And I Would Run Three Hundred More

Quite literally, it’s a milestone.  Well, it’s THREE HUNDRED MILES!!!!  I kept track because they said that that the shoes should only go 300 miles and then retire…I’ve run three hundred miles!!!  That is AMAZING and a bit frightening and quite exhilarating!

Amazing because in January, I thought that even running one mile would be impossible for me in my physical state of age, weight, aches and pains, health. 

Exhilarating because it wasn’t just a passing phase – like the aerobics classes that I used to attend, or the weight room I used to frequent, or the treadmill upon which I used to walk/run.  This is something that I can continue for many years!

Why is it frightening to me? I don’t know…it still catches in my chest when I think of it… THREE.  HUNDRED. MILES. It is a long way.  Maybe I expected to see more change in me after that…and I haven’t really changed that much…not lost more weight…not built up lots and lots of endurance…it still isn’t easy so that I feel that I should move on to the next goal of like, say FOUR miles a day or something.  Maybe I’m afraid that I won’t continue…it’s a big weight of success taunting me to “BEAT THAT!” or something…I still don’t know why the fact that I have run THREE HUNDRED MILES scares me.

But, nonetheless, I will CELEBRATE this milestone!!! I have run three hundred miles and I will run three hundred more!

IF I DRESS IN PINK…? Or, TRICKS We Use

I was laughing to myself as I was running today – If I dress in pink, will you mistake me for the Energizer Bunny? (He just keeps going!) I don’t know if I heard that somewhere or if I just made it up.  Or if I dress in grey and black, will you think that I am a Timex? (takes a lickin’ and keeps on tickin’)

I noticed that I was giving up at the same places along the track.  It just seemed that I couldn’t go any further.  And that HILL!!! (a small berm that goes over the end of the man-made lake…it is no big deal really, but it FEELS like a wall when one is a bit tired!) So, I shook things up a bit…I went a different way! I ran around the block awhile BEFORE going to the track, and then, I went the opposite direction! (GASP!!!) And you know what!?! I fooled my own brain!  Instead of “only” running 2 miles, I was able to do 3!!!!

The battles that we fight in life are real battles…there are scars and wounds.  There are even fatalities and mourning.  But most of our battles, like the iceberg, are the hidden battles of the mind.  So often, what we think we cannot do, we do not do, but not because we actually could not, but only because we bought into the lie that we could not do it. 

So, I have been using tricks.  Small plates. TRICK!  One cup per hour. TRICK! Running the other way. TRICK! Music and earphones. TRICK! 

Of course, it is important not to lose track of the truth! I am not talking about actual self-deception!  I KNEW that I was really running 3 miles…I wasn’t actually fooled. 

The “trick” I am talking about is to do something that camouflages or removes my own self imposed limits.  I am talking about getting out of a rut and looking at the “mountain” from a different perspective.

What do we think we cannot do? Lose 15 pounds?  Get up at 5:30?  Organize that terrifying desk? Face that messy kitchen?  It is a lie.  We CAN do all of that…the limits are pretend. Get smaller plates!  Throw on some earphones and some exciting music!  Do five minutes of paperwork at a time!  Run the other way around the track!  Dress in Pink and Keep Going!!!