The Best/Worst Workout I Could Have Done

I definitely relate to this post and I'm glad you wrote it. So often for me, the difference between a good workout and a horrible one is the attitude I have going into it. I have found that I keep having these expectations of how it should be and feel - e.g., "I ran this course in 30 minutes last time... Crap! I'm off pace! Why is this feeling so hard! I suck! I can't believe I had to stop and walk this time when I didn't last time!" - etc., etc. So I relate to how it felt for you to try to do something that in the past was do-able or easier, only to find that this time, it's entirely different and now what you had thought. My best experiences come when I trade my expectations for appreciation. (I love that quote - I didn't coin it, but I'm literally going to get a tattoo of it on my body. The full quote is "Trade your expectation for appreciation and the world changes instantly.") I have found that when I catch myself beating myself up for not fulfilling whatever expectation or "should" running in my head, I try to find the thing to be appreciative of: e.g., "Lucky you, you have this time to take to yourself and enjoy a run! Some people don't have that!" Or "This is awesome, you have use of all your limbs and senses - so grateful! Not everyone has their health, sadly!" Or, particularly in North Carolina summers: "It's a little hot, but I'm so appreciative that I have ice-cold clean drinking water and AC to cool off after! And I'm so happy that I have the money to afford dece