Credit

It's weird to think of yourself in terms of ability, but we do it everyday, whether or not we realize we're doing it, it happens. How much work can I get done today? How much weight can I lose in a month? How much money can I save before moving out? We ask these things of ourselves constantly, okay maybe not these questions, but questions are asked. Physically I know what my body is capable of, I know what I can accomplish only because in the last year I've been challenging myself incessantly. With the Shamrock Shuffle 8k over with, I kind of feel like I'm capable than more than I ever dreamed, certainly more than I could ever give myself credit for. 

I'm not going to lie to you, by mile 3 I was struggling, ironically enough I was struggling to breathe. When the air is that cold your lungs are doing double, triple the work. All the pranayama in the world couldn't help me out of that situation, I just had to deal. I've also come to realize that running is all mental for me. There were no physical setbacks or ailments, mentally I was focused too much on my breath. Unfortunately I forgot to remember to breathe the right way. When the breath is controlled the mind is at ease and vice versa, or so the Dalai Lama says. Overall it was an amazing experience, I cannot compare anything to it. The snow, ice, slush and ice water filled puddles only added to the gnarly running experience. I have to take a moment to thank my sister and her husband who ran by my side the entire time, never leaving me. And thanks to all the awesome bystanders who cheered on and high-fived complete strangers, talk about encouragement.  

I will say this, I had only one goal for this run and that was to finish in the time allotted. And I'm so glad to say that I reached my goal! Unfortunately after sprinting my ass to the finish line all of my pictures doing so are goofy. But it's okay because I'm high on life and no one can take that away from me. In yoga today one of my friends, Dawn, (who also ran the Shuffle) told me to write my finish time on the back of my bib, just to have for myself. When I got home I did just that and hung it up on one of my cork-boards. Dawn reminded me to be proud of myself because as my first run, I accomplished exactly what I intended. And I stopped to think about this, I shouldn't need someone else to remind me to be proud of myself. Which brings me back to this whole idea that we don't give ourselves enough credit for the things in life that we accomplish. Why is it easier to believe in the negative, to see and acknowledge all the things we cannot do or cannot have as opposed to recognize the positive? It's all in how you see things I guess, for which I am now making adjustments. Anyhow, it's difficult to do so trust me, I know...but from now on I'm going to try harder to stop and realize just how awesome I am because I don't half-ass anything, at least not anything I believe in. And I fully believe in myself.