Happy Anniversary

Today is my one-year anniversary of first lacing up the shoes with the intent of turning running into a serious endeavor. Wow what a year it has been !!!

What was I thinking back then?

I wasn't thinking of all the things I could accomplish in a year or what I'd be writing today. I wasn't thinking Indy Mini or Chicago Marathon or Grand Rapids Marathon. I wasn't thinking of PR Training, Tammy and the new friends I'd meet. I wasn't thinking of 5:30 AM runs in the dark or of sub-zero blizzards or of falling or ERs or of injuries or physical therapists or sports massages. I wasn't thinking about a summer of 130-plus-mile months or road-trips to races. I wasn't thinking of sub-2 hour half marathons or sub-10:00/mile marathons. I wasn't thinking of being chosen to blog my training for the Chicago Marathon or being a valued member of a race committee for an inaugural half-marathon in Fort Wayne or being chosen as a guest speaker at the Fort Wayne Track Club's annual banquet.

None of that was remotely in my mind.

I was thinking just one thing: "It is possible." It is possible to develop a training plan to be able to run a 5-mile Nutri-Run race in 3 months. That's it. That's all I was thinking. Just a simple belief that I might be able to train to run 5 miles in 3 months. Maybe looking back that seems like such a small, easy goal. But back then, it seemed like a major but possibly attainable endeavor.

Looking back now I realize how important that little thought was. It was the most important thought of all my thoughts. In that simple "it is possible" phrase there is belief, history and hope.

A belief in myself. A belief that I could accomplish something athletic that had eluded me my entire life. A belief not built on a wild idea or a whim but built on 10 months of history. A history of new-found accomplishment. A history of successful weight loss. A history of walking that became ever-increasing aerobic endurance. A history of seeing myself change before my eyes into a person I had only dreamed of but never thought I'd ever meet. A history that gave me hope. Hope to accomplish even more. Hope to dream bigger dreams. Hope to believe that the next thing is possible. A belief that drives me to leave my comfort zones and try something new. And so the upward spiral of success goes. Action based on belief based on history that drives hope that even bigger dreams are possible that drives action ...

My belief that I could maximize my weekly weight loss while on the Optifast diet with exercise drove me to walk daily. My success with walking gave me the confidence to try to walk the treadmill at the fitness center (it is very intimidating for an obese person to go to the gym). Success with walking on the treadmill gave be confidence to try the elliptical. Success there led to running on the treadmill,
> Which led to taking up running as an official endeavor,
> Which led to signing up for the Nutri-Run in December (I signed up so early I was the first to register and wore bib #1),
> Which led to training that demonstrated that I could possibly do the Indy Mini and Chicago Marathon,
> Which led to signing up for PR Training (which was the only way to get into the sold-out Indy Mini),
> Which led to Tammy and friend and better training,
> Which led to a sub-9:00/mile 10 mile goal run,
> Which led to believing I could run a sub-2:00:00 Indy Mini,
> Which led to believing I could complete the Chicago Marathon,
> Which led to a sub-10:00/mile Grand Rapids Marathon,
> Which now leads me believe that I can succeed with whatever I set my next goal to be,
> Which gives me the confidence to push on through tough times now, because I have done what it takes to succeed in the past and I am a winner.

It all comes down to the belief that "it is possible" and turning that belief into action.

It all started with the first simple step I took on February 15, 2006 during my first lunch hour on the weight management program.

What am I thinking today?

Today my dreams are bigger than my next race; bigger than accomplishing something new in 3 months. Today I can think about what I will write a year from today.

I will report on how well I did on accomplishing my goal of repeating all of my 2007 races with improved times in all of them. I will report on my experience of being on the F4F race committee. I will report on my continued dream of one day directing a road race. I will report on how I gave back to Lutheran Weight Management and helped train a group of obese people to accomplish their first 4-mile race. I will report on the lives I've touched to dream big dreams. And I will report on the big dreams I hope to accomplish the year after that.

It has been a good year.