It's pretty irrational. I would say 95% of the apples I eat are exactly what I expect them to be; delicious, sweet (or tart, depending), nutritious, nothing wrong with them. But every once in a while, you get that one bad apple. It looks fine, no more or less bruises than the apple you had yesterday, the same shade of red, no funny smells. Only when you take that first bite....
Nothing. The flavor didn't burst into your mouth. The juices didn't run down the side of the apple. There is no tart, no sweet, no tang. You got a mouthful of sand, with a slight hint of artificial apple-seasoning.
Plus you probably look about as dumb as this kid, holding your sandy apple in two fingers at arm's length as if it now has SARS and you need to put as much physical distance between you and the offending fruit lest you get infected. You've still got a mouthful of dry, mealy apple too, that you're trying to nonchalantly spit out, but you're unable to both spit and maintain your image as a polite, proper, and productive member of society.
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| Today's cultures frowns upon wasting food |
So you bite the proverbial bullet in your mouth, and swallow it. No other option. Gross. Now, not to be melodramatic, your day is completely ruined. There goes your delicious treat, your pre-workout energy boost, or your train commute snack. You find yourself wandering aimlessly, stumbling through the next 3 minutes of pointless life with a blank expression and an empty tummy. You wonder how things are ever going to right themselves. You contemplate your very existence on earth, and why God lets bad things happen to good people.
Again, not to exaggerate the feeling of getting a bad apple.
Sometimes running can be like that. A bad run leaves a bad taste in your mouth just the same as a bad apple does.
It's just as unsatisfying, and maybe even more frustrating. At least with the apple, you know instantly that your apple is bad. With a bad run, it takes some more time to figure out. You spend an extra 10-20 minutes chewing on your mealy jog before it slowly dawns on you that this is a lost cause. Even on a flat course, you feel as though you're running uphill. You cramp more easily, your form feels off, and you never feel like you're in a rhythm.
And when you're finally done, you sit with that bad taste in your mouth. Nothing you did beforehand indicated a bad run. You ate the same as before last run. You stretched like normal, you warmed up like normal, the weather isn't all that different than yesterday's run...so what gives? Why hath God forsaken thee?
Put simply, running just sucks sometimes. Apples are just mealy sometimes.
95% of the time, as with apples, running will be exactly what you thought it would be. Your interval run is hard, your recovery run is relaxing, and your long run is....well, long. Most of the time you can trace a bad run to an injury, a birthday celebration the previous day, a long layoff, etc. It's just mentally more challenging to deal with a bad run if it's for no reason.
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| Your bad apple probably won't be literally screaming at you |
Just remember though, like the apple, tomorrow's run is going to be fine again. When you get that bad apple, it might not be blatantly obvious, but recognize it for what it is: the exception rather than the rule. Tomorrow, don't have a mini-panic attack before you even step out the door though. Just take that first bite, realize it's a new day, and forget that bad apples even exist.
