A year ago today I logged my first run using Map My Run on my phone. 2.52 miles, 28:35, 11:20 pace. It wasn’t my first run, but it was probably about a week into my decision to become a runner. You see, a few weeks before that, I had stood up in front of a group of people at a public speaking training and gave an impromptu speech about “What do you want to do this summer?” My answer: “I want to run a 5k.”
It’s amusing in the last year I’ve transformed myself into this runner girl that I never would have dreamed of being. What a lot of people don’t realize, before I started running last spring, I had never run more than a mile. In my life. And that was for the annual Presidential Physical Fitness Test in school, so that would have been 1994. I gained a lot of weight through my twenties, and decided when I turned thirty that I needed to do something. I started walking and being more active. I moved to West Michigan, and started filling my time with hikes through the woods and long walks down the beach. I joined a gym and started taking yoga classes. Then I stood up in front of a crowd of people and said “I want to run a 5k.” That statement put me on the hook for accountability!
Running 3.1 miles was a giant goal for me, and I surprised myself by not only accomplishing my first 5k, but 7 months to the day from this first logged run, I ran my first half marathon. I never dreamed I would become this kind of runner. But what I never anticipated were all the life lessons I would learn along the way.
1) You’re stronger than you think. My first run I set out with a stop watch and an interval training plan for a Couch to 5k. Run a minute, walk a minute. After the first minute I threw the plan away and as Forrest Gump said, “I just kept running.” All these years I had thought I was not a runner. I ran 2.5 miles that day, and walked another 1.5.
I fell off the proverbial running wagon after completing the half marathon. For FOUR months. I dropped in with a running group late this winter and within a few weeks, as we were out on a ten mile run, the voice in my head was cheering to me “You’re stronger than you think you are!”
Don’t let your head limit what your body can accomplish.
2) Any goal is possible if you break it into smaller goals. My goal was never to run a half marathon. It happened by starting with small goals, and expanding them each time one was accomplished. Dream big! But break it into smaller dreams which can be accomplished along the way.
This lesson crosses over into many more areas than just running. Want to go back to school for your MBA? Want to start a family? Want to break into a new career? Want to clean out that awful closet which everything has been stuffed for the last 5 years (and I’m talking literal closet…come on, we all have one, don’t we)? Give yourself small goals, celebrate your achievements and keep moving forward!
3) Surround yourself with people who can make your dreams come true.
“Surround yourself with the dreamers and the doers, the believers and the thinkers, but most of all, surround yourself with those who see the greatness within you, even when you don’t see it yourself.” ~Edmund Lee
I have people in my life who are barometers of possibility who make me think, “Hey, self, you might be able to do that to!” I have coaches and mentors who I turn to when I need guidance. I have cheerleaders who might not know anything about what it is that I’m doing, but who always cheer me on with supportive phone calls, cards and just let me know that they’re proud. And most important, I have mentees. These are the people who ask for help and advice, but what they don’t know is they relight my candle when it’s blown out.
4) Don’t give yourself an escape route. When Hernando Cortes landed on the shores of the Yucatan to conquer the Aztecs, he gave an order to his soldiers to burn the boats they sailed in on. This gave a clear message to his men, and the Aztecs, that the only option was to win or die. There was no escape route. Kind of raises the commitment level, doesn’t it?
This is why I believe in the beauty of the out and back run! You don’t need to run ten miles today, you need to run five. Because when you arrive at the half way point, the only option you have is to turn your butt back around and make it back to your car!
This is also why I don’t believe in loops when I’m running. And I don’t believe in escape plans in life. Sure, have a Plan B if things get bad, but never give yourself an out when trying to accomplish something really difficult. If you’re like me, you’re more likely to take it.
5) When all else fails, SMILE. I’ve had people laugh at me “You’ve ran 12 miles, how are you still smiling?!” My response: “My brain is tricking my body into thinking that I really like this!” As farfetched as it may sound, it does actually work. I have a yoga instructor who always reminds us to smile while doing the most challenging asanas. Believe me, when you’re on your fifth set of boat pose, the last thing you feel like doing is smiling. But when commanded “Now SMILE!” the relief that passes through your body transforms the experience.
I’ve found this applies everywhere in life. It’s not just your perception, but also your reaction to a situation that changes how you experience it. As the old saying goes, attitudes are contagious, is yours worth catching?
So as I embark on my second year as a runner, I look forward to the lessons I am going to learn along the way. Be mindful of the thoughts that come to you as you run, as those are the sweet moments that will transform your life. Happy Trails!