Two of the things I used to say I’d never do were:
1) Run
2) Wear a tutu running.
Sometimes it gets me when the cliché’s are so trite and true! 😉 I used to say I’d ‘never’ run because I had rheumatoid arthritis. I made the excuse that it would be too bad for my joints. Then I ended up having the lower lumbar back surgery on my L4/L5 (a microdisectomy) the very same month Neal was diagnosed with MS over 6 years ago and that seemed like the perfect excuse to pile on top of having RA.
What made me run now? In August I found myself in a personal slump. I know now God was changing things up in my life so that I would be forced out of my comfortable in order to see that I needed to move forward and recognize that I had more to do to thrive and not just survive. I needed a goal, something to work towards so that I could feel accomplished and possibly recognize I could do something I always said ‘never’ to out of the fear of failure.
It began with the relay 1/2 where I prepared three months from running nothing to running 6.3 miles. Holly and I ran that together and when we reached 5 miles we both thought we were about to fall dead to the ground. But when we crossed the finish line there was something about having reached the goal that made me think “What if?…What if I tried a 1/2? Even if I walk most of it…maybe I can do it.”
A few weeks later over Christmas break I was in the Afterhours Medical Center with Ryan and saw an old running magazine that had a week by week run schedule for first time 1/2 marathon runners. I took a picture of it and sent it to Stephanie, my daily running partner. “I’m in, girl.” is all she had to say.
I found the 1/2 marathon that wasn’t too far away, wasn’t going to be too cold or too hot and gave us the exact amount of time needed to train per the schedule I was ‘given’, even with leeway for my trip to Germany. Holly was on board instantly as were a few other girls in her run group.
Voila. Another 4 months later after running a 10 mile as my longest ‘pre-run’ before tackling the 13.1 Marathon Holly and I ran together again and this time when we reached the 6 mile marker we were still running strong, smiles on our faces.
When I crossed the finish line and saw Neal waiting for me and Holly held my hand as we crossed over at a 2.23 time I cried with joy.
Will I do another? Not soon….but I’ll never say never. Will I run a full? I won’t say never, but I’ll say unlikely because I don’t see the benefit except to prove something and I believe what I did today proved that I’ve been wasting my time setting my bar too low.
Where is your ‘bar’ set for accomplishment? What has fear kept you from achieving and what step can you take to challenge yourself?
Thank you ALL for the prayers!
Blessings
Shannon