Milestones

Less than a year ago, my friend Beth, had a baby. About eight months ago, she said she would never do a half marathon. She even went so far as to say it was a stupid idea. Several months ago, she decided to start increasing her mileage to work up base mileage with the *potential* of doing a marathon in September. Less than two months ago, I convinced her to do the Platte River Half Marathon. Yesterday, she completed her first half marathon!

I love milestones. A huge part of what I do for work is focused around milestone accomplishment. Running with Ben and with other friends has been filled with literal and figurative milestones. In these last several months, I have been able to be a part of Beth meeting several of these milestones, including her first 5k run distance, her first 7 mile run, and her first half marathon.

It has been awesome to see the transformation from “what a stupid idea” to “I just ran my first half.” For those of you who have worked to increase your distance, you know this is not an easy transition. Runs can often be “ugly” during, yet leave you with a sense of accomplishment afterward. That increase in distance becomes an increase in so many things- joy, health, energy, and time with friends.

For those of you out there struggling to make it through each mile, remember, it is one foot in front of the other. You really can accomplish more than you think. Tuck your head and keep moving, but also remember to look around and enjoy the journey! You will get there!

And to Beth, nice work yesterday! Keep on running!