Live on Purpose

I ran a half marathon this morning. Not a race, just me and 13.1 miles of road. No race adrenaline, no aid stations, no spectators, no porta-potties, no medal or post-race party waiting at the end. Yeah. Turns out that it is a little bit tougher mentally to do it that way. It makes me a little nervous with a 22 mile run ahead me without any of the race hub-bub. Yes, the actual marathon is 26.2, but then I will have all the perks of a race to give occasional breaks from the mental solace of running for that long. 

People always talk about the mental barriers and introspection that comes along with running long distances. 13.1 miles is the longest distance I have ever run, and today I finally did it all alone. Step one of mental training; check! I was sort of groggy when I first rolled out of bed, but I had my mantra for today, and I knew that I purposely set my alarm for 5 am. I purposely set out before the sun was up, and I purposely set out with a goal of 13.1 miles in my mind. It is time to live on purpose.

The great thing about running long distance is that you really have to examine who you are, and then determine who you are going to be. There are times in life, and in running, when you have to put doubt and your insecurities aside, and you have to believe in possibility and remember that you can do anything for 10 (or however long your endeavor lasts). It's a matter of shutting out the voice that says, "you can't." I hit the wall where the, "you can't," was getting louder and louder, so I walked a bit, and I texted Matt and my sister Grace for some encouragement. 

Eventually, I got over the mental hurdle and just kept moving. I love the part of a long run when you realize that the distance you have left to go is minuscule in comparison to the distance you have already traveled. When that feeling finally kicked in, I looked down at my watch, and I realized that even though I was letting the mental block get the best of me for awhile, I was still going to run my second best time for the half marathon distance. Each day and each decision is a new opportunity to live on purpose.