“We get by with a little help” is the sixth post in a series about the human side of dailymile: How We Succeed. As a part of this series, dailymilers write about their experiences as athletes struggling to overcome obstacles and solve problems with the help of their friends on dailymile. Being an athlete makes our bodies stronger, but having the support of a crowd of athletes makes our minds stronger. This series highlights the side of training that requires more than muscle power. To submit your story, email the editor
Submitted by Adam M.
Who among us has not had one of those runs where most things just went wrong? Maybe you were feeling sick. Maybe you were tired. Maybe hungover. You’re stressed about a work or family situation. Could be that you simply didn’t meet your goal. You came up short by “that much”. You did not finish. You had the most terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
Then you posted the workout anyway.
Within a short amount of time there were comments on the entry:
“Nice Job: I admire people who get out and at least try to do their workout when they’re feeling a bit off!”
“Sorry it wasn’t a great run for you. Like others have said, you’re an inspiration nevertheless!”
“These kind of runs can help define us. It was hard and you wanted to quit, but you fought through and finished it. Congrats on the toughness of your soul and your amazing determination to finish!”
Maybe you’ve had the kind of week I’ve had—kids sick with a stomach bug. You’re tired, crankyand coming down with something yourself. But you’re logging your miles and getting your share of “get well soon” and “way to push through it” comments. Having been feeling a bit out-of-sorts over the last few days, I began to wonder just how many people have had this experience.
I asked if anyone had stories of “bad runs” that received such a response. These entries are not the sort of thing you’d expect to garner a comment like “you’re an inspiration.” These are not the posts that start with “I set a personal best by 20 minutes,” or “I placed in my age group,” or “I finished my first half-marathon!” These are the posts we write when we’re angry, or defeated. We share these entries on the days when we just can’t get it going, and the races that just didn’t go our way. They’re the posts we write when when we get injured, or simply end up like a bear in the woods.
There are entries from everyday people, struggling with common issues. A small part of how this community really comes together to support one another. We share the good, bad, and the ugly. We relish and celebrate the good times, lend an ear or support during the bad times, and hopefully, we haven’t lost the ability to laugh about the times when things get truly ugly.
We have members that have achieved amazing things. There are members that have overcome incredible obstacles in their lives, they’ve quit smoking, lost 100+ pounds, defeated cancer, to name a few accomplishments. There are dailymilers who are just starting out with the couch-to-5k program. Regardless of how hard we train, how fast we are, how many miles we log—each of us share one thing: human fallibility.
You will fall down, You will stumble, And when you do, we’ll be here to pick you back up. This is how we get by, this is how we succeed—with a little help from our friends.
How about you? Have you had a bad run recently? Have you fallen and been picked back up by your dailymile family?