Good morning! A new start to the week, a new month and a new time to get refocused and back on track!

I worked all day yesterday and am pretty worn out. I am thankful today is a day to rest and recover. It’s been one heck of a week and it doesn’t look like it is slowing down anytime soon.

I always like to give a bit of motivation on Monday to help start the week off great.  Sometimes when I lay in bed late at night I like to browse Pinterest. I always look at quotes and when I finds one that speak to me I usually save them in hopes that they help me when the going gets tough.

 

A few nights ago I came across this great quote and it really spoke to me.

It hit me pretty hard. I don’t know why. I don’t know if its because I was having a tough week, I was tired or if I just needed a pick me up but this hit me. The world is not always a nice place. Sometimes we have to make our lives what we want and not rely on other people. Yes good things happen in life but if you sit around forever waiting for the good times then you’ll miss out on all the rest.

I have made it a point (even when I am exhausted and just want to sulk) to try and make my own sunshine every day. To find something good in every day.

Like one of my favorite quotes says “Everyday is not good, but there is good in every day.”

I challenge each and every one of you to find good in every single day. Find the sun amongst the clouds and keep pushing forward. Our lives are too short to focus on the negative.

 

Ok now that I’ve finished that soap box, on to something else that’s been on my mind a lot lately running.  I know real shock right?

As I start back to running I’ve decided I need to do very important things:

1. Remember Why I love Running

2. Never Take it for Granted

 

For the longest time I heard many people say “I’m just thankful I can run.” Sure I got it but once it was taken away from me, it really hit hard.  There are so many people in this world that can’t enjoy the beauty that running brings me.  Even on those hard and very rough runs – I was running! That was something I couldn’t have said several months ago.

Running to me is so much more than just a goal of one day running Boston. It’s so much more to me than getting faster.  That’s what some people around me couldn’t understand. That’s why it was so hard when it got injured.

Running to me was a sense of freedom.  There was a trail my husband and I used to go to in the summertime that was out in the middle of no where. It was old dirt roads , out in the country and somewhere I had never felt more free.  I felt like I could have run forever and I can remember having some of my best runs out there.

The thing is those best runs weren’t my fastest runs. They weren’t workouts at all in fact that were slow easy days where I all I did was just run.

I didn’t have to check my watch for my pace or push myself when I felt like quitting. All I had to do was run and enjoy every moment, every scene, and lose myself in the run.

That to me is perfection. That is what running is.

 

You all know my love of all of Steve Prefontaine’s quotes.

I love running and I love having goals. I love pushing myself on some days and I love trying to achieve new things that I once thought were impossible.  My husband is competitive (which there is nothing wrong with), but when it comes to me I just want to improve.  I don’t care about a place or beating the person next to me I just want to be better than I was before.

Belief in yourself can go far behind just running. It carries over to all aspects of life. Sometimes the hardest part of any goal or journey is just believing that you can.

 

A lot of people just start smirking, laughing and doubt me the moment the words quality for the Boston Marathon come out of my mouth. I don’t care. It’s not their dream.

It’s a long goal, a crazy goal and it will take a lot of hard work to get there. No matter how far fetched or crazy it may seem to some it is my dream and one day whether it is a year from now of 10 years from now I am determined to make it happen.

Your dreams and goals are personal. They are yours. I spent years (and still do sometimes) caring what everyone else thought. If someone else doubted me that meant that there was no way that I could ever do it. Even though I fall back into this habit sometimes, I have focused on realizing that my dreams are MINE. No one else’s.

Dreams are personal. They are spiritual and they are something that keeps you pushing forward in life. Never lose a dream no matter what anyone things or even what you think. Even on the days when you think to yourself that it will never happen – never give up on your dream.

 

I’ve mentioned many times that running can be compared to life in so many ways.  Just as this quote says running is a lot like life in that you have to take it one tiny step at a time.

I go through most of my weeks telling myself “just take it a day at a time” and then before you know it I’ve made it through another tough week. If you focus on the marathon finish line when you start your training 16 weeks out it will seem impossible.  Just like if I focus on 3 months from now it seems impossible to get everything done.

If you take life one day at a time, one run at at time, you will find that life not only gets more enjoyable but that your goals suddenly don’t seem so far off.  Each day you just have to put one foot in front of the other and know you will get there eventually.

 

Finally this is one of my favorite quotes that I actually keep on my phone.

Running brings something unique to every person. On the days I was stressed I ran. On the days I was happy I ran. On the days I was sad I ran. Each day running meant something to me. It was usually different.  Running brings me more than I can really express in words. Some people don’t understand because it’s hard. A lot of times at the beginning of the run when I’m tired and ready to quit already I think “why do I do this?”

Then as the time keeps going and I finish the run I remember over and over again the love I have for it.

Running means something personal to every person.

 

Finally, even if running isn’t your thing. Find something that brings you that joy. Something you can lose yourself in and that can bring you happiness.

Your life is YOURS. Live it.

 

That’s why my motto is and always will be: “Run Hard. Love Harder”

 

What does running mean to to you?

What else brings you joy besides running? My husband, my family, my fur children, and the hope for the future.

 

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