You will never know your limits until you push yourself to them.
The thing I love the most about running, and really any sport that requires endurance is it requires you to be disciplined with patience.
We live in a world that wants quick fixes, magic pills and overnight results. The people who go for the long term, put in the time, and drive for continuous improvement are the ones who finish strong. This never comes easy. In fact it comes with a lot of hard work and lots of failure. We can look to a few great inventors and entrepreneurs to learn how failure drives innovation, learning and ultimately success.
If Thomas Edison hadn't failed (a lot) he wouldn't have discovered light or started GE. Milton Hershey failed several times before he successfully built the largest chocolate company in the world. (God can you imagine the world without chocolate?!) Real estate mogul Donald Trump is another shining example of failure who had huge comebacks. All three endured to think differently and try over and over again.
I was always the kid that couldn't run fast enough. I didn't get picked for team sports because I was a clumsy athlete. In high school I started cross-country running. My coaches and mentors taught me the importance of showing up, giving it my best and learning to improve.
My coach once said ... "Endurance is patience concentrated." He was right.
So, I'm not a patient woman, however lucky for me, I have a lot of energy. With time, I've learned to develop more patience. 20 years later, I am still running. I never thought I'd run more than 3 miles and I certainly didn't think 26.2 was possible. I've run London, Chicago, and New York and a score of half marathons. I run because it's about pushing myself to get better. It's about enduring.
In 6 weeks I will take to the streets of Berlin. It's my 3rd attempt to run this race. I've had many setbacks in my training but this time, I'm showing up, giving it my best, and enduring what mileage I can.
