Final Stretch

This weekend I am running the Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Race.  I am clearly not the first person to run this race, and I'll be running it with thousands of other people, but I am excited about this race.  And by excited I mean pretty nervous.

I am not a runner.  In fact, when I went to the running store two weeks ago to buy new sneakers, I emphatically told the employee, "I am running in the Cherry Blossom Ten Mile, but I'm not a runner or anything".  And the truth is, I wasn't a runner.  I didn't look forward to running the trails near our apartment in Virginia, and I often stood on the side of the track while Mark ran (and fast).  

This past fall, I knew I needed to find a mental and physical challenge to compete with the various other challenges in life.  I needed something to focus on, to aspire to and to complete.

I am generally competitive by nature, but the only person I have been competing with has been me.  Over the course of the last two months, during my training program, I have gone from dreading the 3 miles I needed to run, to saying now, "Oh, it's just three miles."

Before I ever started running I told myself that if I ran 5 miles my gift to myself would be the Maniac pumps from Brian Atwood, it is no longer about the shoes.  It is about knowing that I set a goal, I went after it, and in a few days I will do it.  I am not running for time, I am running for me.

I'll report back on Monday with the results. 

If you need a reason to take on a new challenge, the reason should be because you can, and so you have to.

Have a great weekend.