Yesterday I was chatting with a friend and shared with him that I recently signed up to run a 50 mile race.
“50 miles? Like at once?” he asked with a look of concern.
“Yes,” I replied.
“But won’t that take all day?”
“Well, no. Not all day. Somewhere between 8-10 hours,” I responded with excitement. I love the looks on people’s faces when they start to comprehend exactly what running an ultra means. I then went on to explain that some people would be running the 100 miler, and for those people, yes it would take all day. Plus some. To which he responded,
“But what about at night? You can’t run along the trail in the dark.”
“Yes, actually you can. And that’s part of the excitement and the lure. To do the crazy thing.” He wasn’t sold.
I believe when Courtney Dauwalter completed her incredible win streak this past summer, something started to shift in people’s minds. At least it did for me. She did the impossible, and with that, she gave others permission to overcome their impossible. Somewhere along the course of our lives, we learned that limits exist and we should operate within them. And yes, they do exist but are we really doing all that we can to test those limits? When we challenge ourselves, however that may look, slowly, action by action, we begin to reframe our potential. That’s why I signed up, and willingly paid money, to run 50 miles - to find a new limit and push beyond. I don’t think we learn much about ourselves when we live in our comfort zones. A few days ago I read a statement that said 95% of people only do things when they feel like it. And that is why 95% of people live unintentional and mediocre lives. I don’t want to be mediocre. So here’s to stepping out of the comfort zone and embracing new challenges…
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