Suck It Up Buttercup

Throughout my entire life, I have been an extremely active person. I was a four sport athlete in high school and have always loved to exercise. Until recently, the only thing I absolutely hated was running. Even as a little girl, I refused to play soccer because of the running. Though I did run track in Junior High, I never liked it. 

This past fall I allowed one of my closest friends, Taylor Wiebers, to talk me into signing up for a half-marathon: The Disney Princess Half-Marathon. I did not fully understand what I was getting myself into. Immediately after saying yes, I was completely dreading everything to come especially the training. But knowing the race was for the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, I became even more motivated.

Knowing how I am, I knew I had to started training as soon as possible if I was to ever run 13.1 miles in one sitting. Right away, I contacted one of my favorite people- Ray Porter. Ray has been my Yoda throughout this entire experience. I would not be where I am today without him. 

We decided to set small goals to help me reach the BIG one. I ran several 10K races this past fall to continue to motivate myself as well as get used to the racing atmosphere. Overall, I participated in four 10K's, the Living History Farms Race (seven miles), and one Halloween Fun-Run.

I now officially considering myself a runner and definitely have a love-hate relationship with it. Running has taught me numerous things that I can apply to my everyday life: 

1. If you focus on putting one foot in front of the other, you will eventually reach the finish line.
2. You cannot reach the finish line unless you start.
3. The mind is a very powerful thing. If you can train your mind to keep going even when your body wants to quit, you can achieve some incredible things.
4. Accepting that every day is different.
5. Sometimes you need a day off, a day off from everything.
6. The worst time, the slowest pace, the last person to finish the race is still better off than the person who refused to try.
7. Even if you fall, even if you cannot finish today, you can and should pick yourself up and try again tomorrow.

This may seem obvious for some people, but these are something I have had to learn. Nobody is perfect and nobody can be perfect 100% of the time. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE. You must take what the world gives you and roll with it.

This past month before the race has honestly been dreadful. Mentally and physically I have been ready, just extremely impatient playing the waiting game. I cannot believe Taylor, my mother, and I leave Friday to go to Florida for the race. I am extremely excited with all the hard work I have put in the past few months. Stayed tuned on my Facebook pages and all forms of social media for live updates.

 #CMN #FTK