The Finish Line

Life lessons learned today through marathon training TRUST - Trust that people can and do have your best interest in mind. Learn to recognize who those people are and surround yourself with them. Its ok to trust the people around me- no matter how many times I've slowed them down, made them stop and told them to just go ahead without you, they've never left me or ever made me feel bad for it. Its a good reminder of what healthy relationships look like and the value of being able to trust people on and off a running trail.

Know you are deserving of being cared for. I have amazing people who's priority is for me meeting my goals, manage my expectations for myself and value my health. Accepting care is a new thing for me and even though I may still fight it at first, I'm learning to be patient with it which brings me to the next lesson.

Patience - I have all the patience in the world with other people and NONE for myself. I injured my hip a few weeks ago and as soon as I got the all clear to start running again, I wanted to hit it full force... I counted the two weeks of waiting to hear back from the MRI as " recovery weeks" which to me was plenty of time... when in reality those two weeks I was still injured and not in recovery but still in injury mode. Being patient with myself as I recover has not been easy for me, in fact I think of all the running and training we've done - being patient has been by far the most difficult challenge for me!

Its not what I want - its what I need. Having to work harder to rebuild strength and having setbacks now and again when my body seems to fail from my expectations has been frustrating. Its only been today that I realized that its not my body failing me, its my expectations that were failing me. I didn't stretch enough before the run - because I was being impatient- and ended up getting an awful foot cramp which slowed me down towards the end. It hurt and I knew I had to be patient with my body until I felt like I could run again or finish. Its not what I wanted - to walk the rest of the way and end up half a mile short, but its what I needed.

Lastly - The finish line is not the goal! Everyone asks me what my goal is - in weight loss and in marathon training. As for running I always say " To finish" While I know that crossing the end will be a really great moment for me, its no longer my singular goal - i have many and they change from day to day, run to run and most of them I don't even realize are goals until I've reached them. Like today for instance: I ran the fastest mile I've ever done in my life... EVER. GOAL MET I recognized my physical limitations during the run and was patient with my body - even if it meant slowing down GOAL MET I learned to trust the people around me - GOAL MET I learned to be a good recipient of care from others GOAL MET. I thought the ultimate goal was to finish the race but training for me has been so much bigger than that - it is training me to succeed in life, it is preparing me to continue my fight against fat, it has taught me to value my choices to live a healthy life because not everyone is given a choice to be healthy. Its not about crossing the finish line - its not about being a certain weight - its about the journey that gets you there - that's the goal! ... but crossing the finish line on race day isn't a bad goal to keep too.