It's almost here!
This Saturday morning I will wake up and head to St. Paul to fulfill one of my big "life to-do's", running a half marathon. (this run is part of the Monster Dash series) I've talked about my running history previously so you know that doing this tomorrow is something that, just a short while ago, I never imagined I'd ever do. Last week I felt nervous about it, earlier this week it almost felt like I didn't realize it was a few short days away and now I feel ready!
I keep envisioning myself on all of the long runs I completed during my training. Each Saturday morning, rain, shine, COLD and all, running mile after mile and each time thinking, "woohoo, mile one done!" and a little later..."yes! there goes mile 3 and 4." and eventually, "wow, that was 9 miles? I could do a few more!" The feeling of accomplishment it gives you to complete something successfully is worth all the hard work that went into it.
When I start to feel anxious about what lies ahead of me, I remember the feeling I have after completing those long runs, a feeling of NOT being exhausted, of strength and a feeling that I was only stopping because I was done with my mileage, not because I was giving up. When I run and the enormity of how far I have left to run I repeat these mantras to myself
1. Think about how far I've come- not how far I have left
2. Your mind will give out long before your legs
3. Just keep running
I've put in the miles, I've got my warm gear out and ready to put on Saturday morning, now all that is left to do is go have fun and run as best I can.
The other day on Facebook, the Monster Dash page asked the runners, why they were running this weekend. At first I thought, well that's easy, I'm running because I set this goal and I want to complete it. But as I thought about it more I remembered the real reason I run. You see, my mom was a very active woman- I'm pretty sure there is a gene in our family that makes it impossible to sit idle for any real length of time. (my maternal grandfather had both legs amputated late in his life, he must have been 80-something and rather than be confined to a wheel chair, he insisted that he be fit for prosthesis and learn to walk all over again.) I have vivid memories of her kind of bounce/jogging in the house with a big smile of her face. She was wonderfully full of life.
So when my mom was very sick near the end when the cancer just got the best of her, she talked about how she missed just running around and goofing off. She said, "I was having so much fun."
What my running comes down to then, is that I run because I can. Because I'm healthy enough to do it and because I don't ever want to take for granted that I can just get up and go for a run any time I want.
I keep envisioning myself on all of the long runs I completed during my training. Each Saturday morning, rain, shine, COLD and all, running mile after mile and each time thinking, "woohoo, mile one done!" and a little later..."yes! there goes mile 3 and 4." and eventually, "wow, that was 9 miles? I could do a few more!" The feeling of accomplishment it gives you to complete something successfully is worth all the hard work that went into it.
When I start to feel anxious about what lies ahead of me, I remember the feeling I have after completing those long runs, a feeling of NOT being exhausted, of strength and a feeling that I was only stopping because I was done with my mileage, not because I was giving up. When I run and the enormity of how far I have left to run I repeat these mantras to myself
1. Think about how far I've come- not how far I have left
2. Your mind will give out long before your legs
3. Just keep running
I've put in the miles, I've got my warm gear out and ready to put on Saturday morning, now all that is left to do is go have fun and run as best I can.
The other day on Facebook, the Monster Dash page asked the runners, why they were running this weekend. At first I thought, well that's easy, I'm running because I set this goal and I want to complete it. But as I thought about it more I remembered the real reason I run. You see, my mom was a very active woman- I'm pretty sure there is a gene in our family that makes it impossible to sit idle for any real length of time. (my maternal grandfather had both legs amputated late in his life, he must have been 80-something and rather than be confined to a wheel chair, he insisted that he be fit for prosthesis and learn to walk all over again.) I have vivid memories of her kind of bounce/jogging in the house with a big smile of her face. She was wonderfully full of life.
So when my mom was very sick near the end when the cancer just got the best of her, she talked about how she missed just running around and goofing off. She said, "I was having so much fun."
What my running comes down to then, is that I run because I can. Because I'm healthy enough to do it and because I don't ever want to take for granted that I can just get up and go for a run any time I want.
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