"If you can dream it, you can do it." - Walt Disney
In the late fall of 2010, I stepped on a scale. 284. Heaviest I've ever been in my life. So I started running. I made it 1/3 of a mile before I had to stop and rest. slowly it turned into 2/3 mile, 1 mile, 2, 3... As the months passed, my mileage went up. In Florida, as I was trekking through grad school, I made it from nothing to 3.5 miles in a 7 month span - 2.5 was my usual distance. Then I moved to Denver and things really took off. Within a month I was able to run 5, after a couple - a 10K. Now here I am, 8 months later running 7+, going to hit double digits in less than a month, running 4 times per week, and logging the miles. In the 3 months of 2012, I have ran 75% of the distance that I ran the entire YEAR of 2011. I am on pace to triple it. I got this crazy idea this past fall to run a half marathon. So I signed up. And here I am just over a month away from that. I am beginning to contemplate a full marathon, but go back and forth. Sometimes when I think about some of these things, I am blown away. I seem to be surprising myself every day. I am stubborn and competitive enough to be successful, but when I take that step back and really take a look, I continue to be amazed. If there's one thing that I want everyone who reads this to take away from my journey it's this - if you can dream it, you can do it. If you have a crazy idea, thought, or goal - that's a start. And if you're crazy enough to see it through, you will amaze yourself. When I was a 284 pounder sitting on my couch, the thought of doing all of this was impossible. But now, the 225 pounder is running miles upon miles and making these impossible dreams come true.
Your potential to do something amazing is right there waiting for you. All you have to do is just do it. Believe in yourself and the possibilities are endless. You are incredible, and now it's time to show yourself and others around you what you are capable of - and just what might happen if that crazy dream of yours comes true.
"Go forth and set the world on fire." - Saint Ignatius Loyola
Monday - Rest
Tuesday - 3 Miles
3.21 - 29:58 - 9:20 pace
Good run! Legs were still sore from this weekend... Felt really strong the first half, and felt stronger than normal the second half. Fairly uneventful run, but an absolutely beautiful night!
Wednesday - 5 Miles
0 miles
Week 7 and this is the first run of training I did not complete. I am a little bummed, but I started stretching and getting ready and my legs are still dead. Yesterday made them worse. So part excuse, part listening to my body, I need another day off. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.
Thursday - 3 Miles
3.14 miles - 29:37 - 9:25 pace
This run was just ok. Decent time, but didn't feel that great. Felt a little sluggish. On top of that, my quads still hurt. As in excruciating pain that hurt with every step when I ran and now that I am done I am just sitting in pain. Who knew that one decision to play volleyball over the weekend would have this much of an impact. Not sure what the near future will bring with this, but I'm going to need some help from my body with this one... especially seeing the number coming up this weekend...
Side note: I love Nike+. I love the ease of the GPS and the cheer function has helped get me through some of my longer runs. But my favorite part is the random messages of encouragement you get from celebrities and athletes. Tonight's message at the end of my run was my favorite. "Tim Tebow here. I love your dedication. Way to go!"
Friday - Rest
Saturday - 9 Miles
8.30 miles - 1:25:48 - 10:20 pace
What a beautiful day for a run! I got out on the trail a solid hour and a half before I did last week so it wasn't blazing hot yet. AND I brought water with me so I wouldn't run out of gas. I started off pretty strong with a couple 9:30ish miles, then started to trail off a little. I felt pretty strong for about 5, and I got this crazy idea that maybe I should go for 10. Umm... not quite... after that, things started going a little downhill. The heat started getting to me, I had to take in more water on the second half, and the performance started turning less than stellar. I had to walk and take a little breather at 7.29 then kicked in another mile at the end. On the one hand, I am a little disappointed that I didn't hit the 9 I was supposed to. But I mostly feel good about this one - it's farther than I've ever ran before in my life! Double digits, I'm coming for you!
Sunday - Cross
Rest
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