One of the earliest memories running gave me was when I was probably 7 or 8 years old. My parents put me in CYO (Christian Youth Organization) Cross Country starting in Kindergarten. And in those early years I distinctly remember having my dad drive me to meets and we blared Smash Mouth’s All Star on the radio every time.
You know what can make or break the trajectory of your success? Confidence. The confidence to know that you’ll nail a workout. The confidence to set a big, scary goal and just *know* that you’ll get there. The confidence to own who you are and the choices you make. The confidence to ask for what you need.
Hey, all! So glad you chose to stop in and check out my new blog. So why’d I decide to start this thing, anyways? I’ve always really enjoyed writing, but I don’t get the opportunity to do much of it anymore. Not long after I started my Instagram account I was reminded that I actually really love to put pen to paper (or in this case, words to screen) every once in awhile. But Instagram can be limiting, and not everyone wants to read extremely long captions. So, here I am.
Some days are hard. And I don’t mean just running. You know those days when you wake up and by the time you’ve brushed your teeth you feel the stress of the day crashing over you already? Sometimes it manifests as a tough day at work. A lot of times it leaks over into my run. And those really bad days? I’m still feeling off when I’m spending time with my family in the evening.
Sunday morning I woke up at 4:30 am, getting only about 5 hrs of sleep. Race nerves & loud hotel neighbors kept me up, but I banked extra hours the week leading up to this so I wasn’t too worried. We arrived on campus around 5:50 am. Matt dropped me off and I walked toward the starting area. So far, everything was going smoothly! After a few bathroom stops, light stretching, and meeting up with Alisa (@alisakasprzak) I finally headed into the starting corral with just a few minutes to spare. At this point, all of the nerves from earlier in the week had started to subside. I felt fairly calm, and mostly just anxious to start this thing already.