Marathon Life: Marathon Training Week 14 & 15.

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I bet you thought I quit right???? No such luck my friend! I’m still at it, though I did take week 12 & 13 off after running the Helvetia Half marathon. But in my defense that wasn’t really my fault! I got in a mild car accident and messed up my neck and back pretty good so my doctor suggested I take some time off running.  But I had no intention of listening to that advice and on Friday night of week 12 I was laying out all my stuff for Saturday’s morning run when I suddenly remembered I had a house full of 11-year-old boys having an “end of the school year” sleep over.  I was devastated by my lack of planning and stupid oversight and reluctantly missed that mornings run.  And then week 13 I was in NYC celebrating my 39th birthday with my two besties and all of us promised beforehand we’d go running in Central Park… but alas, we walked it.. shocker.

Out at the crack of dawn, getting back in the swing of things…

So that meant two full weeks of NOT running AT ALL. No practice runs, nothing. I even skipped out on my normal 3-5 days a week at Barre3 class. So needless to say when I went out for my run last week (which was 9 miles of hills), I was cursing myself.  It was rough, think my average was like a 15 min mile or something (basically walking, let’s be real).   All last week I promised myself I’d get my Portland Fit training runs in, but of course I didn’t.  So yesterday I had very low expectations for myself when I had to pull 12 miles out of my ass. Yet to my amazement it was one of my better runs, averaging a 12 min mile for the first 9-10 miles.

So that got me thinking…. The old me would have quit after missing one week of training. But after missing two? Get outa here! I’d have definitely given up and just pretend I never started this blog series claiming I planned to run the Portland Marathon. I’d of just deleted all the posts that proved my original intention and gone about my life. But the Hustle.Believe.Receive. me gets satisfaction out of knowing, I CAN do this. Even when it seems impossible, I have a simple formula to follow that works! I know that if I show up; tell myself positive affirmations instead of cutting myself down, that I will be able to do it. And every week it is proof to me in such a simple, tangible way that it works. And the sense of accomplishment is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. Every week I’m doing something I never imagined I’d be able to do. Every week I’m shocking myself. And that feels great. It’s proof that a person can change, and can reinvent themselves at any age. Just because you’ve never done something, or never liked doing something, doesn’t mean you CAN’T do it. And it doesn’t mean that the old negative label needs to stick, you can redefine it and yourself at any point in your life. That is why I’m running. That’s the reason I’ve run 114 miles since March 22nd. To prove to myself that anything I set my mind to do, I can achieve.  Even something so far-fetched (for me) as training for, and running a marathon.

Whatever your goals are you can achieve them the exact same way as I’m achieving mine. The formula is simple and it works. Hustle.Believe.Receive. teaches you how to change the voices in your head, how to hustle and how to stay committed to your goal. It’s that simple.  The only way to live your dream is to be willing to hustle and bleed for it. And the only difference between desire and results, is hustle. You’ve gotta put your lazy mindset to the side if you want to change your life. There is no quick fix. There is no “magic” thought you can have that alone can change your life. It requires your commitment to doing the work, and your determination to never again live your old life. The rest will come to you… and believe me it will.  And over time it will come faster and easier and more frequently than you ever dreamed possible.  But for now… you must work.

*Follow my #MarathonLife twitter feed on Saturday mornings as I tweet while I run, motivating myself. Running is simply a test of the minds endurance, and a great way to motivate and inspire yourself to believe.