As i near the end of my first marathon training schedule, i have learned a variety of valuable lessons. The first one being the necessity of mentally preparing for a long run. I’m not talking about telling myself to get my butt off of the couch and go run a few miles.. i mean taking DAYS to convince myself that this 20 mile long run coming up won’t be as long or as hard as i think it will be. (Wtf? How do i even think that’s true for a single second?) which is literally what I’m doing right this second as my very last (hallelujah) long run approaches in just two short days. Thank the Lord. I don’t know how many more 3-4 hour long runs i could mentally do! (And physically but that seems too obvious to have to state)
The second valuable lesson i have learned is that you must have either an awesome playlist to run to or an awesome podcast or book to listen to.. otherwise you will get bored and say “screw this” a third of the way into the run. I can promise you that. Like one day i was running and pandora just wasn’t feeling my vibe and i literally ran in silence the entire time. Talk about a beating. This definitely taught me a little about mental toughness... which leads me to my third and final important lesson from marathon training. I am capable of WAY more than i ever imagined i would be! Here i go with my shoutout to all the moms again.... ready? You should already feel like a badass for giving birth to a child (or 2 or 3 or 4). And you should already know that you are capable of a whole lot more than you ever thought you were just by experiencing labor and delivery and keeping your cool (maybe not your sanity) with a newborn! But I mean to tell you... that should set you up for freaking big aspirations and dreams when it comes to your body.
The second valuable lesson i have learned is that you must have either an awesome playlist to run to or an awesome podcast or book to listen to.. otherwise you will get bored and say “screw this” a third of the way into the run. I can promise you that. Like one day i was running and pandora just wasn’t feeling my vibe and i literally ran in silence the entire time. Talk about a beating. This definitely taught me a little about mental toughness... which leads me to my third and final important lesson from marathon training. I am capable of WAY more than i ever imagined i would be! Here i go with my shoutout to all the moms again.... ready? You should already feel like a badass for giving birth to a child (or 2 or 3 or 4). And you should already know that you are capable of a whole lot more than you ever thought you were just by experiencing labor and delivery and keeping your cool (maybe not your sanity) with a newborn! But I mean to tell you... that should set you up for freaking big aspirations and dreams when it comes to your body.
Now I’ve always been the crazy person who loved running. I knew i wanted to run a marathon after my very first cross country meet in 6th grade! (Shoutout to Coach Thomas at OCS) But honestly after having my son, i wasn’t too sure if i was even capable of running 1 mile anymore. I kept telling myself “maybe next month I’ll start training”.. and after about 9 months of that crap i finally just said “screw it!” And signed up for the Dallas Marathon. That way i couldn’t keep procrastinating. This left me with about 6 months to train. I had never run more than a half marathon (13.1 miles) so i was pretty unsure of how this training was going to go. But after that first long run past the 13 miles I was HOOKED. Sore beyond belief, but hooked. It hurt so good!! Then after that 17 mile run i knew i was meant for this. (I know I’m crazy) and i knew holy crap was i capable of way more than i thought. Our bodies can do so much more than we give them credit for! And that goes for humans in general! Now let’s be realistic for a second.. I’m not saying all you moms or whoever should go train for a marathon. No. It’s not for everyone. But what i am saying is that you should really DARE to do something you could look back on 30 years from now and say “wow i am so glad i did that and can’t believe i thought i couldn’t” .. whatever your “dare” is! From running 1 mile for the first time to completing an Ironman (hell no for me) whatever your fitness goal is start NOW! I believe in you and you should too! Stop saying you’ll start after the holidays or for New Years or this weekend or when your kid starts school or blah blah blah. Do it NOW! Have faith in yourself! You were fearfully and wonderfully made.. and you’re not getting any younger. :)
I’m so proud of you Tori! It takes mental toughness to work around all the obstacles of motherhood and everything life can throw at you to meet your goals.
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