I woke up this morning with regret.
I wanted to run the Buffalo Half Marathon, but decided to skip it at the last minute.
When I saw the newsreels of 5,000+ people running (and finishing before I even woke up), I felt it in my gut that I made the wrong choice.
My comfort zone won the battle.
But, the war wasn’t over.
I decided I’d run my own half marathon. Right in my neighborhood. And that’s what I did.
The first half of the run was relatively smooth and uneventful. The second half was sheer pain.
My knees, ankles, hip flexors, and achilles tendons would shoot pain up my leg after every—single—freaking—step. And I wanted to stop after every—single—one—of—those—freaking—steps. But, I didn’t.
My mantras were:
- Mind calm—body calm.
- Pace, posture, breathing.
- Pain now—no regrets later.
- You’ve done this before—you can do it again.
- I know my finish line (13.1) and this ain’t it (until it was).
Which I would repeat throughout the run to remind me that the mind will always give up before the body.
Why do we sometimes put ourselves through hell?
So we can learn how to stand (and keep moving forward through) the heat.
Also so when things are heavenly, we can truly appreciate them.
I tell you: water never tastes as good; calories never satisfy as well; and relaxing never feels as rewarding—as when you finish putting yourself through an intense challenge.
I wouldn’t do this everyday—but, it’s good to do something like this on occasion.
Keep your mind sharp. Cultivate gratitude. Expand your limits.
And live with no regrets.