Life is meant for flight: new challenges in the coming year

   

   If my blog readers know me (and I think you do) you will know I am never truly happy unless I have some large challenge coming up in my future. It has been that way now for years. It keeps me motivated not just to physical action but in taking care of myself emotionally and mentally. If I am not in the best shape I can be all around then I may not be able to meet those challenges head on with a strong heart, mind and body.
     I will admit it. I have become something of a training junkie. I love writing out training plans and posting them next to my exercise calender. I love having a piece of paper tell me how many miles to run that day or if I am supposed to cross-train or rest. I adore the feeling of accomplishment when I finish that long run I had scheduled or get in a good strength session. Having that feeling of the sword of damocles hanging over me as I prep for something new is exhilarating.
   Last year I did something life-changing. I went to a trail race down in Kansas with my great friend Christy Victor. We had a cool road trip and it was great fun camping too. I got to see the milky way, avoid scary spiders and, oh yeah, run an incredibly challenging trail.

   I finished that and thought "Wow that was really, really, really hard! Let's do it again next year!". The inner me tried desperately to refute this idea however it lost and I signed up again for 2014. But then not to be outdone I also signed up for my first 60K in March and my first 50 mile in April. I have a calender that is absolutely terrifying: 2 marathons (maybe 3), 3 ultramarathons, at least 4 half marathons and my old standby the DINO 15K trail series which is the only races I truly RACE. In  2012 I got 3rd place female overall. Last year I got 2nd place overall. This year I want to go for 1st place which means more hill trainings, interval workouts and less body fat so I can speed up those brown county hills past, hopefully, the 1st place winner of this year. I managed to get ahead of her in the final race last November but it was incredibly hard.
   But that is what I want. I didn't sign up for those races to be scared. I signed up for them to truly live life. My new motto for 2014: Life is not meant to be a fortress of safety but a stepping stone for flight into the unknown. This is what i tell myself every morning when I wake up and what I try to express to my clients: take risks, go for the scary stuff, leave the safe ground and rise up on shaky wings to fly to the stars. Don't let your life go by without scary moments of personal challenge. I want to be on my deathbed thinking of all the things I got to experience and all the hard stuff I was able to complete. This is not just in running either but all things. It is taking risks at my job learning new formats and teaching new classes. It is going after the social situations that are difficult for me. It is reaching out to others when I need help even though I am not very good at that. It is learning new things about myself and my world and implementing those things in my life. It is making sure when I lay my head down on my pillow that night I know I truly lived that day in the best, most authentic way possible.

I count my blessings and love my life and am going to rise up and fly.