Are parking lot circles follow through, or lunacy? What on earth is a parking lot circle, you ask? This is one of those things that if you know what I’m talking about, you probably do it, and if not, then read on…
Do you ever go out for a run/walk/ride/swim/whatever with a specific time or distance goal? Let’s say it’s a 5 mile run. What happens when you get to the end but your watch shows 4.87 miles? Do you just stop and call it good? Or do you run around in the parking lot/in front of your house/wherever you are until the watch says 5 miles?
Running that extra bit to get the watch to 5 miles is “running parking lot circles” – the drive to finish the workout so the data is complete.
I’m a parking lot circle runner. David thinks I’m nuts, running a short bit up and down our street to make mileage while he stops. Some people think it is way too Type A, and maybe it is – I was a watch waver, after all. I don’t always do it. For example, my watch read 96.36 miles at the end of a 100 miler. I wasn’t going to run 3.64 miles for the watch to show a perfect 100 miles. Nope, I’m all good! Bye!
Here’s a random parking lot circles week from my training logs:
But in general, parking lot circles matter to me and here’s why:
Finishing the planned workout to the number represents follow through. For me it is about integrity in doing what I set out to do or what was assigned by my coach. It is about grabbing brass rings, or squeezing the rubber pig at the top of the rock climbing wall. It is about my commitment to myself to always go long and not allow a millimeter of give, because once you allow a millimeter it then becomes a centimeter, a meter, and so forth.
It isn’t like that .13 miles will matter significantly physically (and the watch has a margin of error so it could actually be more than 5 miles), but it means everything mentally.
So, for me…
Parking Lot Circles = Follow Through
How about you?
Follow through, or lunacy?
If you have landed on this page from an external link, please go HERE to read from the beginning. Otherwise, click on the next title below to continue.
Tres
Parking Lot Circles is a metaphor of what I know of your life Carey and what has carried you through 11/12 surgeries. I agree with your equation Parking Lot Circles = Follow Through. But in your case Parking Lot Circles = finishing what YOU began. You started off thinking 3 then 6 surgeries add a 7th and you jump to 12. Most of what you’ve written about to date is you circling in the parking lot to finish. For this journey, you needed to investigate, learn, persevere, work with others, but it’s always been you looping around the parking lot, searching for the finish. The last lap is close, you know when you look at your watch and it says 9.92 and you think I’ll hit 10 soon. And you will finish soon.
careymartin
Oh my gosh, you are right! Lots and lots of parking lot circles, but definitely an end that is coming soon. Thank you for noticing this connection! 9.92, I’m there.