It was colorful. It was girl time - get out and move fun! It was beautiful to see so many ladies encouraging each other and uniting to help each other through this accomplishment.
And it IS an accomplishment. Getting up and running 3.1 miles is something most Americans probably don't even try to do. So way to go Divas, getting your dash on!
The size of our goals isn't so important.
It's that we have them, and that we keep striving for them.
For me, I wanted to win. I'm not a runner - I'm a crossfitter. But I believe crossfit equips me pretty well for most other athletic endeavors. There was certainly some draw to just running with my friend and enjoying moving on a Saturday morning... But I just can't do it. It's a race. If I pay for a race, If I have a chip timer, I must at least try to see how fast I can do it.
I didn't win, but I finished in the top 2%. That really is stellar.
What is really stellar also is that I had the courage to hope - to say - I want to win.
I never win, but I never will either if I don't set my sights on it.
We hear that sort of motivational talk from athletes all the time. How often do we just dismiss it. just a little bit. with the notion, that there is something about them that we don't have, and never will?
3 years ago I ran a 5K in Daphne, AL. I remember during the last mile seeing the "top finishers" jogging their "cool down" back our direction. I was incredulous, questioning their sanity and humanity.
For me, a race had always just been the insurance that I would actually finish the distance, but by this point in my journey, I had completed a sprint triathlon. I was on the the up, starting to feel like more is possible, but seeing those "real runners" seemed to negate my journey at the time - but no doubt they have a journey of their own.
I have a bad habit of thinking that people who are elite at what they do, were pretty much genetically programmed and nurtured to be that way. Therefore I have no chance. Lie. What lies are you telling yourself?
In highschool I ran cross country for a season, my senior year. Our races were only about 2 miles, so no time for numb feet, but do you know that I would actually WALK. yes, in the RACES. as soon as I was behind the cover of some trees or something, I walked. 15 years later, I'll pick up and run 2miles just to relax and recover.
It's all relative. Today, if I set out to do a race longer than 5 miles, you better bet, my goal would be just to finish, and/or to not walk. Depending on the distance. But given time I know I could be prepared.
What's the difference between me then and me now? Time. Training. Patience. Desire. Determination. and Choosing not to let any one define what I will be capable of... starting with myself.
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