For a few months, I’ve been following an interactive digital 10k running plan on a fitness app. I thought it would be a refreshing change since I usually stick to paper plans downloaded online. Unlike the static training plans I’ve used before, where you can see the details of every workout ahead of time, this digital plan only shows one week at a time. It’s designed to adjust and keep you on track toward your goal as you progress through the training. Sounds great, right?
Well, it was… until it wasn’t. On Monday morning, I opened the app expecting to see the week’s workouts. Instead, I was met with a discouraging message: “It will be difficult to achieve your goal based on your training pace. I suggest training for a run or changing your race to a later date.” It may as well have said “give up” because that’s what my mind read. I was crushed.
Maybe if I’d received this message earlier, it wouldn’t have hit me so hard, but my race was three weeks away. I knew my training wasn’t quite up to par with the plan since I’d taken some time off from running after falling in January, and I hadn’t been able to achieve all the paces the app suggested. However, I was completing the workouts and thought I still had a chance. I guess not.
In hindsight, it’s kind of silly to let an app upset me. After all, it’s just an algorithm based on limited data. I don’t think this type of training plan is right for me, anyway. After each workout, it essentially grades your performance with either a “good job” message or a “room to grow” notification. Too often, I found myself seeking validation from those “good job” messages and feeling defeated when I didn’t receive them. I realized I was no longer running for joy; I was running for a little message on a screen to tell me I’d done well. But why did I think I needed that?
It’s tempting to seek validation from external things, especially technology, but I don’t need an app or anything else to give me value or predict my capabilities. My journey isn’t defined by algorithms. God alone knows how I’ll perform on race day, and every other day. I’ll try my best and leave the rest to Him. Whatever obstacles you’re facing today, I encourage you to do the same.
