Morning Motivator – 13.1 Miles of Growing

"Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they've got a second."
~William James

This past Saturday, I challenged myself by doing something I said 12 months earlier… I WOULD NOT DO AGAIN. I ran the Country Music Half Marathon. Last year, I had agreed with a buddy to run the 13.1 mile trek and committed to running in under 3:00:00. I trained hard for January and February of 2007 and then QUIT. Why? I don't know… I just lost FOCUS and later SUFFERED from it. I ran the 2007 Half Marathon in 3:05:00 – I FAILED to meet my goal. I said I would NOT run again.

Zoom forward to Winter 2007, when the Country Music Marathon promotion begins. I stared at the sheet, contemplating and resisting. And I STILL committed to doing it… why?! I had failed to meet my GOAL… I WILL achieve my goal, I thought. I trained December 2007, January - February of 2008 and then March… I get sick with a sinus infection and as last year, stop running. April 2008, a good friend, Rachael, MOTIVATES me to start running again, ending in a 9 mile (not 8 as she alluded to) in just over 2 hours. I am better PREPARED than last year…

The week of the race comes upon us (last week) and on Monday, I get ANOTHER sinus infection. Not good, yet I will NOT give up. I once heard a gentleman say "you are more than 50% accomplished if you 'just show up' to anything in life" – I stayed FOCUSED and I "showed up". I ran the race with my friends, Todd, Rachel and Nancy – all GREAT motivators (especially Nancy who kept kicking my tail to get going). So, what happened..?

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:

Regardless of the final results – I GREW as a person, by realizing that with a TEAM of support, you can OVERCOME any challenge and ACCOMPLISH any goal. I discovered the it is TRUE – "showing up is more than 50% of ACHIEVING your goals. I LEARNED that it's not my job (or yours) to ALWAYS be the stringer person… allow others to MOTIVATE you too! And I REAFFIRMED that LEADERSHIP starts by leading yourself!

Oh yeah, I finished in 2:50:15… shaved 15 minutes off last year's time. I feel ACCOMPLISHED … and you better believe you will see me out there NEXT YEAR! (and in Virginia Beach this later year). Keep PERSEVERING… you WILL achieve!

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com


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