By Ambassador Bryan Kreitz

bryanMost training plans have people beginning this month to prepare for the Chevron Houston Marathon or Aramco Houston Half Marathon, so I want to share something I have learned over the last several years. Newton’s Third Law of Motion states “Every action has an equal and opposite reaction”, but I believe there is a Third Law of Workouts that should be talked about. That law states “That for every amazing workout you have, there will be an equally terrible workout.”

Now, that law does not apply to everyone, but I have learned over the years it applies to a large majority of people. I know people that have been ready to give up on a race or training because of just one bad workout. (Oh wait, that was me.) It was the Chevron Houston Marathon two years ago and I thought I had it all worked out. I was in the heart of long distance runs, where you would tell people “I’m just running 18 this weekend.”  Things were going great and I was hitting all of my times like I should. Then it happened. One single workout that made me doubt whether or not I could truly start and finish a marathon. If I couldn’t make it through 18, how am I ever going to make it through 26.2??? Let’s be clear.  That workout, I made it about 10 miles when my body decided it just did not want to function properly. My legs hurt, my hips hurt, my feet hurt, heck, even my sweat hurt. It was terrible. I was looking for my weekends back and enjoyed the thoughts of sleeping in and being lazy now that I didn’t have the stress of a marathon weighing on me.

I allowed myself a whole week to feel sorry for myself before I realized I had come too far to give up now. I surrounded myself with people that have been running for years and started to feed off their optimism for what was possible. I learned that I was not the first person to go through the stress of a bad workout, and they were kind enough to tell me that it would probably happen again. That is exactly what I needed to hear. I was normal (relatively speaking) and things like this happen to the best of us at some point do to the number of workouts we do.

When your bad workout hits, just understand that it is not the end of the world. You will regroup and regain the confidence you lost. You cannot throw away your whole journey over one day. I know it’s hard to make it past it sometimes, but surround yourself with other runners and share your story, and I promise you, they will share theirs. We are a community ready to lift up our fellow runners when in need, and all you have to do it share.

About the Author: Bryan Kreitz (Cypress, TX) – Half Marathon
Bryan started running with friends after being advised by his doctor that his weight (200lbs) was very unhealthy for his height (5’6″) and could lead to many health issues. Starting slow, Bryan worked his way from 5ks to 10ks, and now has completed 6 half marathons, 3 marathons, and 6 Half Ironman races and one full Ironman.  Bryan has the wonderful support of his wife and 2 kids and a host of other family members during his long training days and races.
Twitter – @kreitz09
Instagram – @kreitzquest