Analysis Paralysis

I will admit that I over-analyze most everything in my life. (I’ve seen it referred to as analysis paralysis which is not only accurate, but much more fun to say.) If I have to make a decision, I think and think and think about each one until my brain is so cloudy that I can’t make a choice. For example, lots of options on a restaurant menu may be awesome for you, but I hate menus with lots of choices. Not because I don’t want to or can’t make a decision, but because I turn over each choice in my mind which makes a decision all that harder to make. (Does that even make sense? Ha!) 

You may remember this post, where I talked about changing my plan and not doing the Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon in May. How I couldn’t commit to the training schedule because of Ripped in 30, yoga, family time, etc. How I wanted to focus on weight loss instead of half marathon training and how I was afraid of injury. I was convinced that I shouldn’t do the half and ‘step down’ to the 10k. But when registration opened, I didn’t jump to sign up for the 10k.

I started turning this over in my mind again over the past few days and kept going back and forth again and again. Half or 10k? Half or 10k? I thought about crossing the finish line with my sister at the Wineglass Half  last September and how incredibly awesome the entire race was and how much closer it brought us. I thought about how great I felt after conquering a new distance during training each week. I admit that I also thought about how much easier it would be to train for a 10k with my ‘long run’ maxing out at six miles. But mostly, I thought about how much it would suck to not run the half with my sister. Running the 10k would be much simpler training-wise, but I couldn’t get to 100% certainty that I should just forget the half.

So, I do what most social media users do in uncertain situations: I took my problem to Twitter. (That is not fact, that is a guess that social media users use social media to help them make decisions. No? Just me?) The responses I got (in addition to the texts from my sister) made me feel so much better about what I was about to do. Thank you, Twitter friends. You are amazing.

I would like to add that Liz’s suggestion of a coin toss was awesome and I actually asked a co-worker to flip a coin for me. When it came up Tails (which was for the 10k) and I wasn’t at all happy with that result, I took it as another indication that I needed to just sign up for the half marathon already. So thank you, Liz! Also, thanks to my friend Coy for suggesting “String up a little ribbon in your living room & then quickly dash through it. YOU WIN!” I may have to try that.

Warning: overuse of exclamation points ahead...

I’m happy to report that analysis paralysis is over! You don’t have to listen to me whine (about this) anymore! It’s official! Half marathon number two will be the Marine Corps Historic Half on May 19th! I’ll work on a training plan this weekend because training needs to start soon. I haven’t run since the 10k in October and am determined to build up a really good base this time. And I can’t wait!