I can't tell where the journey will end, but I know where to start. . . . New Year 2014

I am somewhat sure that I might not be good at a lot of things . . . . .
No, screw that, I KNOW that I am not good at a lot of things.  While I have a high level of personal fitness, and have since my days at Berry College, and an almost ethereal connection to running, this "revelation" of sorts makes me recall the time that I was tasked with playing an intramural game of basketball.  One girl had called out sick last minute and the student coach was a friend of mine.  His reasoning and logic were, due to my fitness level, that I must have a natural basketball talent hidden somewhere.  While running is my forte, his assumption was severely erroneous as I lack serious skills in the fast paced manual dexterity department, on top of having absolutely no idea how to play the game.  I walked into the gym and had to laugh at the site of the coach, in a non serious game of intramural basketball, in which he had mistakenly picked the wrong ringer, he was dressed in a plaid suit, complete with a tie.  It was good to know that he took this job seriously.  From the time of the ball tip, it was clear to every spectator in the stands, and there were a lot, with their eyes closed and turned around backwards, that I was one of the worst players there.  That was when, neither the crowd nor I could believe, that I got a breakaway with the ball.  I was dribbling down the court and no one could stop me!  They could not even keep up, my running skills were coming in handy!  I was moving down the court, planning my WNBA future on that breakaway high . . . . . only to hear a whistle blow.  I was being penalized for going the wrong way with the ball.  I was as embarrassed as the time that my future husband met my mother on our first date at 3 a.m. in the driveway in her pajamas, we are talking cheeks so bright red that you might have thought I was sun burnt.  It was only a couple of seconds later that my time on the court was over and I took to my new position, warming up the left bench.  Since those days, I have become a better basketball player; however, the point of the story is that everyone starts somewhere.  While natural talent may be more clear in some than others, fundamentals are the building blocks of fun, and it often takes starting with the fundamentals, and building upon them to create something great.  Running is a sport where everyone starts somewhere, competing against themselves.  Some start at a young age with a great talent, like Meb Keflizighi.  Some start walking and push themselves through intervals to reach a goal race.  It makes every single person who gets out there and gives it a brave effort good at what they try.  You are competing against your fears and doubts that you have, your previous times and performances, to make something better of yourself.  It is 2014 now, and in a new year of new beginnings, it is hard to go further if you do not know where you have come from and where you have been.

Running started for me as a way to transport myself to Chick Fil A for some glorious sweet tea when I was too poor to afford the gas to drive there.  I honestly had no idea how far it was from the house, it was a simple take off and run sort of thing.  Sweet tea and Chick Fil A is worth the run for the soreness I would feel later, right?  I was also doing it to keep up with another little sister.  I mean, I have always done running to accomplish something for myself, but seeing her on the road, just kicking butt and plugging away, making friends and honing her skill, I wanted that for myself.  She had talent, speed, grace, and agility, and believe me I have spent a lifetime trying to catch up to my three ambitious and talented little sisters so I would know.  She was doing the Atlanta Half Marathon and, with the promised of a medal, and lets face it, who doesn't like getting a medal?, I signed up for the Georgia Half Marathon the following spring.  I spent my days on the road traversing up and down the hills near my house, in and out of the trails at the parks, and come race day, with shoes too small, I was ready.  My little sister was there for the full marathon, her first, and I was determined, with my heart undaunted, to finish my first half marathon.  I swear it was longer and harder than the 13.1 I had envisioned in my head, but hey, aren't they all?  Nothing in racing ever seems to go exactly according to plan, but in the end, when we cross the finish, we are grateful for having done so.

After that race, I spent a year doing half marathons, circling back to the Atlanta Half Marathon towards the end of the year, and to this day, it remains one of my favorite races.  It does not matter whether the weather is bad or its cold and freezing, some 6,000 people will still show up for that race on Thanksgiving morning and triumph over the extra long turkey trot.  It took a few races, but eventually I had one good race effort that lead to me barely squeaking by my little sister's half marathon PR.  

Since one goal was accomplished, a new goal had to be set.  Completing a marathon, which I assumed would only be twice as hard, was where I set my sights.  In the process, I barely finished one twenty mile run on the roads around my home, but still remained optimistic in terms of what I could achieve in the long distance race.  I made friends with one of the best running buddies I have and together we went to the race.  She finished in fantastic fashion, qualifying for Boston yet again, and I limped in blister, bruises, and all barely on my own two feet.  

People sometimes ask me, after my various marathoning experiences, what I would change or if there is any advice that I could give them.  After the magnitudinal pain of the first one, I always say, "Do not, under any circumstances, forget the body glide!"  I will never forget that first marathon, the bad weather, and the horrendous chafing on my thighs.  I will never forget that first experience, but I am grateful for it, because I will now and forevermore never forget that important tool that helps me to stay chafe and blister free throughout most races.  I still have not caught up to my little sister's marathon PR, like I said, she's both talented and fast, but, I am on my way there.  

Around the time that I started running marathons, my little sister was eyeing ultra marathons.  People always tell me, "Never say never," and they would be right because doing it once usually leads to doing it once more, and once more, till you have a whole wall full of accomplishments to display and be proud of.  When I began to run, I never saw myself running ultras, I never even saw myself running marathons.  To me, it was too much, too much time, too much training, too specialized, just plain too much of everything to make it worth my while.  Still, something got into me and I thought, "Just one 50k, just to say I have done an ultra."  The Georgia Jewel, in its first year, was both easy to access and easy to run and train for.  I enjoyed it, aghast that the human body, especially my human body, could have traveled so far.  It may seem unnatural to some, but my heart is in what I do and while a lot of things can be explained away, the desires and determinations of the heart cannot be explained away.  Something about being able to endure and last has me ensconced and makes me feel so alive.  Sure they are hard, and challenging, but in challenging what is hard we tend to find out more about ourselves than we previously thought we knew.

So the story goes, and the legend is still being written.  When I started running, I thought that there was nothing more to my tale than half marathons in too small shoes and marathons in cotton socks with bloody thighs.  I was an ordinary person, just trying something new, never knowing where it would take me or what it would do for me.  I never thought it would take me any further than local races around my hometown.  Today, I am still an ordinary person who mostly races around her hometown and runs with friends and enjoys herself; however, because I wanted to challenge myself and try something different, I have done more than I ever thought possible.  I am not super fast, and I will probably never win, but in going about doing what I love, and adhering to the "No Weakness, No Limits" rule, I have achieved so much, with so much left to do.

This is a new year, 2014, and with it come new resolutions and standards that I hold myself to: 

1) Qualify for Western States 100 (my dream)

2) Run an Ironman (I have never done one before, and just want the chance to prove myself)

3) Finish top 3 at the Tough Mudder and Spartan Races in Georgia (finished top 10 at Spartan last year and running my first Tough Mudder this year)

4) Stay organized and keep the house clean (I admit I am not a neat freak and cleaning is not "fun" for me)

5) Reduce body fat to an already specified number (helps in some of my other New Year's resolutions)

6) Be able to do a pull up and a muscle up (while I have upper body strength, I have never been able to do either one of these) 

7) Finally climb that rope at Spartan Race (my hardest obstacle at every Spartan Race, stupid rope I will defeat you this year)      

8) Finish my personal trainer certification and either get a job with it or start my own business helping people reach their goals (I have put a lot of work into this and hopefully will be successful in my pursuits)  

The point of my resolutions are to take me further than I have gone before, and because I know where I started and place the no limits standard upon myself, I know that I will achieve every last one of these goals and more.  I intend to challenge myself and go places, just like everyone who reads this, because I know I can (and I bet you can too)!  Go out and make 2014 your best yet!

"The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand." - Vince Lombardi