You Can Come Back To Your Goals

My fitness journey started in college. It started because I was out of breath after running maybe .2 miles to catch a bus (yes, that’s POINT 2). I still remember that moment vividly. At that moment, I’m sure that running even a mile seemed unlikely. Probably impossible, once you factored in a history of embarrassment during middle / high school runs.

Though I disliked running, I decided to challenge myself over time with distance running. In the beginning that meant running a 5K. It was only in 2019 that I started to make real progress, breaking through 10K and eventually 10 miles. There was only a single 10 mile run, and I remember that miles 8.5 through 10 of that run were killer. So killer in fact, that I didn’t think that I could run any further than 10 miles. Hence, for the last two to three years, I was convinced that 10 miles was my limit. For the last two to three years, I allowed mental blocks, winter months, and pandemic weight to hold me to that limitation.

Three years seems like forever to me. But something I learned in the last few weeks is that it isn’t. One, two, three, maybe even five or ten years doesn’t mean that you can’t return to something. A few weeks ago, I decided to pick up distance running again (distance for me, anyway). The day I hit 6 miles sucked and left my knees throbbing and my feet aching. But the beautiful thing about your body is that when it heals, it heals stronger. Last week, that healed and stronger body led me to 12 miles and for the first time, a new milestone seemed possible. In fact, not just possible. The idea of a half marathon became exciting to me.

I know within myself that this is not the finish line. This is just a checkpoint. So, checkpoint… 13.1 Miles.
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#running #halfmarathon #nikerunclub @coachbennett