Start 2020 with a new motto

Today was my first “race” of the new year, and it was a great one!

My town running club has a Winter Series that runs every year from November - March. It sounds all small town and cute but it’s actually all of the more serious runners from where I live. Think about it - what other kind of loony people would just run in the winter for the fun of it besides the avid runners?!

Today was a 5 miler (the races range from 3-10), so an easy distance and it was a relatively flat course on a trail that I train on regularly. So I knew what to expect and knew runners would be speedy, since it’s flat.

I started off a little rusty due to fighting off a nasty head cold but once I got going I felt really good. I found myself pushing harder than I thought I would be able to and kept close to an 8:00 pace, which for me is aggressive.

Toward the end I tried this new Jedi-mind trick I’ve been doing my last couple races, which is I just focus on the person right in front of me, and try to catch/pass them. There was a girl who looked like she was quite possibly a fitness model a good 50 or so yards ahead of me, and I really wanted to catch her, but I knew I couldn’t focus on her. So I just focused on the chick right in front of me in the orange shorts. Then another chick in a tshirt, and another and another. One by one I picked off runners up the final hill on mile 5, and right before the finish line I whizzed by that fitness model and she said to me, “way to finish strong” under her breath which was the most amazing compliment! (Runners are such nice humans).

So I finished with a 40:26, and 2nd place in my age group! Fitness model girlfriend was 3rd, at 40:28. Two seconds behind me… damn. First place was 39:21.

I am SO proud of myself. Not for my time or my place, but for my push at the end. Mind you, I almost peed myself and was probably drooling… but that is good quality racing right there!

So this is my motto for 2020… Don’t look at the goal so far into the distance that it doesn’t even seem achievable… look to what the goal is right in front of you, the one that you can conquer NOW. Gather a series of small victories, and work your way to the big audacious goal in your future.

With this blog, which I have been trying to start since LAST January I will continue that same mindset. One post at a time, do not get discouraged, and do not quit. Just keep plugging away. Sooner or later I will have a plethora of posts that my mom and two other of my closest friends will read. :)

Cheers to 2020!

Comment below with your goals, and let’s hold each other accountable.