Fall.\u00a0 This is arguably the most wonderful time of the year.\u00a0 Apple picking.\u00a0 Pumpkin patches.\u00a0 Weekends full of football.\u00a0 But for a runner there are even more reasons to rejoice.\u00a0 Cooler temps.\u00a0 Lower humidity.\u00a0 Easier breathing.\u00a0 Trail running at its finest.\u00a0 And perhaps the biggest and best, the pinnacle of what we have all been working so hard for all summer long.\u00a0 Race day.<\/p>\n
People often wonder how we can get up well before the sun and push our bodies to the extreme distances that we do, before most of humanity has even considered stirring from their cozy slumber.\u00a0 As runners, we find the rewards in the sunrise, the bragging rights of completing a 20 miler in sometimes brutal conditions, the sweaty satisfaction of a grueling speed work session, and occasionally allowing ourselves to go ahead and eat the entire pint of ice cream.\u00a0 Because, let\u2019s face it, we\u2019ve earned it.<\/p>\n
But with the entrance of Autumn, the real reward of all that training comes down to everything that we\u2019ve been striving toward.\u00a0 There is an understanding among all the athletes at a race expo.\u00a0 Whether you will be starting at the back of the pack, leading the way or somewhere in the middle, we are all runners.\u00a0 We have all logged the long miles to get to where we are in this moment.\u00a0 We all have a different race plan, but we all share the same goal\u2026to get to the finish line.\u00a0 We are not racing each other so much as we are out there to compete with the person who we face in the mirror each morning.<\/p>\n
We stalk the weather report and agonize about the possibility of changing our planned running attire.\u00a0 We debate about how many Gu\u2019s to bring with us. We study the course until we know the location of every hill.<\/p>\n
Eventually, on race morning, we gather in our assigned corrals and toe the line with a feeling of \u201cOk, this is it.\u00a0 Here we go\u2026\u201d\u00a0 Then we take a deep breath and move forward with the rest of the pack knowing that this is the moment we\u2019ve all been waiting for.\u00a0 Don\u2019t start too fast, don\u2019t start too slow.\u00a0 And then, the melodious sound of Garmins beeping as you cross the start and get things underway.<\/p>\n
We scan the sea of spectators, searching desperately for the familiar faces of people who have come to cheer us on.\u00a0 We laugh at funny signs along the way.\u00a0 We read the inspirational messages printed or hand written on the shirts of the runners around us.\u00a0 We try to take it all in, but sometimes it feels overwhelming.\u00a0 So we settle in, and just run, because that\u2019s what we came to do.\u00a0 Perfect strangers clap and call our names like we\u2019re long lost friends.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s amazing that all during the same race we can feel like we don\u2019t ever want to run again and just moments later we feel like we could run forever.\u00a0 We go between feelings of \u201cI love this!\u201d and \u201cWhy in the world am I doing this?!\u201d in a matter of seconds. \u00a0We have to push through the words \u201cI can\u2019t\u201d.\u00a0 We realize that we can, and we will, and sometimes we start to hyperventilate at the idea of reaching the finish.\u00a0 We approach the \u201cwall\u201d, but then we tell it to get the hell out of the way and we run right through it.<\/p>\n
There is something about the moment that you see the finish up ahead of you and you pull from every fiber of your being to get you there as fast as you can, but you have already spent every ounce of energy, you\u2019ve laid it all on the line and you\u2019ve got nothing left.\u00a0 So you dig deep inside and keep going, knowing that a part of yourself is forever left on that course.<\/p>\n
There is absolutely nothing in the world like the feeling of crossing the finish line of a marathon.\u00a0\u00a0 So much emotion wrapped up in that one moment.\u00a0 It\u2019s elation.\u00a0 It\u2019s exhaustion.\u00a0 It\u2019s disbelief that it\u2019s really over.\u00a0 It\u2019s closure, you\u2019ve done all you can do. The reality is that sometimes its disappointment.\u00a0 But it\u2019s important that we have no regrets in the race that we ran.\u00a0 It\u2019s about reflecting on everything we overcame to be standing there at that moment when someone puts a medal around your neck and says, \u201cCongratulations!\u00a0 You did it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some days everything comes together and we walk away with a PR.\u00a0 Other days, we have to overcome the devastation that things just didn\u2019t go as planned.\u00a0 Sometimes we swear it\u2019s the last time we will attempt this crazy idea of running 26.2 ever again.\u00a0 But after all is said and done, we ultimately come back to it, because of the feeling of being there, surrounded by all those other sweaty bodies, plodding along, breathing heavily, fighting to prove that we can persevere.\u00a0 Just keep putting one foot in front of the other, it\u2019s all any of us can really do.<\/p>\n
We all have a different journey that brings us to the finish line on race day.\u00a0 We all have different obstacles.\u00a0 But we\u2019re all in it together.\u00a0 And the beautiful joy of the marathon is that we are reminded of all that the human spirit is truly capable of.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s Fall.\u00a0 You\u2019ve put in all the hard work and now it\u2019s time to trust your training.\u00a0 You can\u2019t do anything about the weather.\u00a0 You never know what\u2019s going to pop up on race day that will try to stand in your way, but you\u2019ve trained your body to keep going and you\u2019ve trained your mind to believe that you CAN!<\/p>\n
Your moment is now.\u00a0 Get out there and run your race!<\/p>\n
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