It’s kind of funny. I was just preparing some material for Define & Conquer 2013 and was looking back at last week’s posts. In the morning post from the 26th I sounded rather blah about doing a second 1/2 marathon that day. Little did I know what was going to happen. I had no idea how much my life and psyche was going to change in just 7 days.

Instead of just doing two back to back half-marathons, I ended up doing 6 1/2 marathons and 1 FULL marathon (26.2 miles) in 7 days. I had NOT planned on doing that at all. I was going to “try” to run 3 half-marathons in a row over the weekend. Although I had thought about doing all 7 half-marathons, that had been thwarted by my having to go back to work on Thursday and Friday. But then I got brave and asked my boss for those two additional days off – not so I could run but for other reasons. And I was blessed because he said “yes”.

Now that I had the opportunity to run all 7, did I have the courage and the capability?

I wasn’t sure. And I definitely wasn’t going to commit to anyone that I was going to try. That might mean failure if I couldn’t. And no one wants to risk failure if they can help it. But I don’t know that it was that I didn’t want to risk failure. More that I didn’t want to be embarrassed if I failed (in my mind it would have been a failure – not in other people’s – see how our limiting beliefs get in the way).

But you know what? I did the second and then I committed to showing up to try the 3rd. Doing the second one was uncharted territory for me and doing 3 in a row certainly was. But by then I was really up for a challenge and willing to put myself out there.

Why?

Because of the love and support I felt from these people I had simply interacted with once before – over Thanksgiving weekend. They embraced my attempt and realized that it was something new for me and beyond what I had done before. It was ‘nothing’ for them because they were all doing 12 FULL marathons in a row so doing another half marathon really was no big deal for them. But you would never have known it. You would have thought I was running for president and they were all my supporters. It was such a shift of energy – a feeling of acceptance and support I had never felt before from runners. Since I’m so slow and most runners are all about time and being fast, they don’t usually want anything to do with a slowpoke – and an old one to boot.

I know that I would not even have attempted this had it not been for all their energy. I was thinking about that last night especially as I still sat in awe of what I actually went out and did. Would I have done 6 runs in a row of 13.1 miles each and one of 26.2 miles – all in 7 days without them? NO! I can almost guarantee it. I fed off their energy pure and simple. You could feel it surround everyone, not just me. This group of people (and especially the race director) are very special folks filled with so much love and dedication.

Each step was preceded by my new mantra – forward motion. That’s all it was – relentless forward motion. I had to just continue moving forward. That’s what we all must do in life – every day, every minute, we have to continue to move forward. Do not ever forget that.

There were many obstacles during this 7 days for sure. I will talk about them more later. Again, if left to my own devices I would not have completed these events. Yet with the encouragement and witnessing of what each of them was working toward and overcoming I was able to overcome my own monsters (obstacles).

Here’s some words  and phrases that describe the concepts I experienced in 7 days – and I’ll talk more about these in future parts: Perspective, Perception, Persistence,  Overcoming Obstacles, Judgment, Perseverance, Passion, Pursuit, Love, Friendship, Camaraderie, Chunking Down, Acceptance, Mind over Body, Mind with Body, Pushing Pain, Loving What you Do, Doing What You Love, Teamwork, Balance, Rest,  Achievement, and so much more

There’s much to be learned about life in this short time frame. I can tell you that my power and my perspective has definitely changed.

Til later – sign up for Define & Conquer 2013 NOW.