Conquering Fears

I had been in a running rut since May of 2008. The rut began when I ran my 1st marathon. I went out way too fast and suffered the most excruciating pain I had ever felt across the last 6 miles of the race. My pace slowed down to what was almost a walk and my spirit knocked down. The next few months included a transition to the Bay State where I seemed to lose myself. My habits and routines that made me strive to do my best every day seemed to fade and I felt for a long time that I didn't quite know who I was.

In April of 2009 I took another crack at the marathon distance. The historic Boston Marathon provide a similar result and pain as my first marathon. I felt even more beaten up about this performance and thought that maybe running was only going to be a hobby, something I did because I enjoyed it, but I didn't have to stress the small stuff ,or get worked up on taking it too seriously, or two competitively.

I ran the Chicago Urbanathalon in October. During the months before the race my training became more focused as I began to approach running with an idea about using our Inner Power to drive us forward. After the race, I took a week off to rest and recover. After the week off, I realized that the flame was lit once again and that the energy needed to be shared and passed on. This was the birth of a test. I realized that for the last two and half years I was living in fear. I was afraid of challenging myself to be the best person I could possibly be.

I took a major step to conquer that fear on Saturday. I raced a 3k on the track. The time was not near my best, but a 10:06 3k was a starting point. It was every aspect of my being starting to fight back at the fear that had paralyzed me from being the person I want to become.

Don't be afraid to acknowledge your fears and then attack them with a hammer!