Yesterday I embarked on a 45-day run streak that will lead up to my 45th birthday on November 17th. That day will also see the third anniversary of the day I decided to start running. I won't go into my long-winded "journey" for you, but the short and sweet is, I was someone who said I would NEVER be a runner. I was a competitive swimmer all my life, running was our punishment! But in the fall of 2013, some very persuasive friends convinced me that I needed to do a triathlon with them..."You'll only ever have to run 3 miles" they said. What they didn't understand is to a non-runner, three miles seems IMPOSSIBLE! When I started, I couldn't run for 5 minutes straight before I thought my lungs were going to explode...I said to myself "I am going to die before I can ever run three miles" But, I found a quote that first week that has stuck with me for the last three years; "Start by doing what is necessary, then do what is possible, and soon, you are doing the impossible". And yes, that spring I did the impossible, I did my first 5k race, then that summer, I did my first triathlon, and I found that my "impossible" kept getting harder to define. So, in October 2014, less than a year after I got on a treadmill and barely ran for 5 minutes, I did my first TC 10 Mile. I was terrified, I had never run double digits before...I had never run in a race this big before (over 10,000 runners!). But I knew that I had it in me, I knew that I had done was was necessary, and possible, and that my mind and body, which were both so determined before that I was not a runner, were on the same page. I crossed the finish line of that race and a switch flipped...I was a runner, I had run for TEN MILES non-stop, and I knew that I wasn't finished. The next day I signed up for my first Half Marathon, and the day after my first Half Marathon I signed up for my first Marathon. And I'm still not done. This year I did my first Half Ironman, and in a few years I plan on doing my first Ironman...what started with 5 out-of-breath minutes has become a lifestyle for me, an example for my kids, and a testament to being able to achieve what your mind believes.
So, as we approach the biggest race weekend in Minnesota, and I approach my third straight TC 10 Mile, I just want to say...You've got this! What ever "this" is...you CAN do it. Start with what's necessary, then do what's possible, and soon...you WILL do the impossible.
Happy Wednesday Runners!
