Sparkly Success

I have decided that today I earned a big gold star. My run achieved a personal milestone and blasted pass a previous personal record!

Today, I ran 12 minutes straight, and nearly an entire mile in that time (according the the treadmill, which is not particularly reliable about distance, actually)! It's not fast, but who cares?? It's as good as I was running in the sixth grade, so that's not too bad. Plus, I'm not in this for the speed. I'm in it for the successful feeling I get after I finish.

It just goes to show that we are capable of so much more than we ever thought possible.

Years ago, I never would have thought myself capable of doing any running. I hated it. Gym was my WORST class at school, and I avoided working out like the plague. Then, I got some great advice from my sister, Tonya, who told me how to breathe when I ran so I didn't feel like I was going to die. I tried it out. I discovered that it was hard, but that I wasn't going to die. More importantly, I discovered that I loved doing it, and that I craved doing more. I ran and ran, and got fit.

Then, when I didn't run for months, I thought that was it - I was going to never regain any fitness. I did half-hearted workouts, occassionally. I was mostly trying to console myself. I kept remembering all the people who told me I would never be athletic, or thin, or fit, or strong. Because I remembered what they said, I believed them and chose to agree - which was the worst crime I could commit against myself.

Then, my sister-in-law issued a challenge to run a half marathon in January, which she gives training advice for here, if you care to read it. I decided to test her no-walk theory, and before I knew it, I was jogging without stopping, and loving it. I'm still thinking the half marathon over. But, it made me realize three things:

1. We never achieve the things we never truly reach for.
2. If I reach halfway, that's what I'm going to get.
3. I cannot let another define what I am capable of.

So, I got out, and I ran today to prove them all wrong. It's true, reading my book sounded better in the moment. But, I'm a feisty, stubborn woman, and I was determined to prove all those memories in my head wrong. I was going to prove to myself that I can be what I want to be, not what they said I had to be.

The run was easier than I thought. Now, having run, I feel physically awesome. More importantly, though, it feels remarkable to remember that I am in control of my fate. I set my own limitations.

For that, I think I totally deserve a gold star!