Too often we are scared.
Scared of what we might not be able to do.
Scared of what people might think if we tried.
We let our fears stand in the way of our hopes.
We say no when we want to say yes.
We sit quietly when we want to scream.
And we shout with the others,
when we should keep our mouths shut.
Why?
After all,
we do only go around once.
There’s really no time to be afraid.
So stop.
Try something you’ve never tried.
Risk it.
Enter a triathlon.
Write a letter to the editor.
Demand a raise.
Call winners at the toughest court.
Throw away your television.
Bicycle across the United States.
Try bobsledding.
Try anything.
Speak out against the designated hitter.
Travel to a country where you don’t speak the language.
Patent something.
Call her.
You have nothing to lose
and everything
everything
everything to gain.
JUST DO IT.

- Julianna Ludwig

What gets you through the tough part of a race/run? Where/how do you find the inner strength to power on?

In the 50K with long stretches of being alone…Aid Stations…knowing friends will be there to help you out & cheer you on…and the food is nice too.  — Linda Young

I engage in lengthy detailed daydreams about whatever I’m planning to eat later. — Rhonda Berlin

Coffee…wondering if I will get back from the race fast enough to get some before everyone else drinks it! — Lisa Shade

I think about the various training runs…. Anything that I did that seemed slightly stupid at the time…running in 5 degree icy weather…running at 4AM cuz that’s when I could run. It always makes me laugh and realize I wanted to get myself into this prediciment. — Christine Vassen

Sometimes I’ll just swear at myself.. or I’ll yell things inside my head, like “BEAST-MODE!”. And sometimes I just give up and walk. — Pat Krott

A great song with the volume turned up! I’m the crazy lady mouthing the lyrics while bopping her head and running around the Y’s track. And I don’t care. (Okay, I might care a little that I look nutso, but the track is borrrring.) — Kristen Comstock

As for me, I follow the rule below. I get pissed off — really MAD — and I run harder because I just want the &*%#@ race to be over.

Worth Reading

* Who in your life has an eating disorder and what can you do about it? It’s more common than you think, especially among runners and, it’s not just women.

* Eggs got a bad wrap years ago, but they are seriously one of the best things you can eat (yep…eat the WHOLE thing, even the yolk, that’s where all the nutrients are!). Shape magazine gives you 20 quick & easy ways to cook them.

* 6 tips for running with your dog (I just bought a gentle lead to try with Sam. I will report back!)

* 5 things to do on a treadmill, besides run on it.

* What’s the optimal running cadence? Find out here.

Video of the Week

T-shirt of the Week

What every woman wants to wear to the weight room:

Available here for $26.96

I’m shivering at the start line of the Highmark Quad ski race and wondering how I’m going to get up the steep hill in front of me.

It’s my first ski race and the first time I’ve ever skied more than a couple miles. I’ve done the quad many times, but the ski event has always been canceled, or I blew it off.

Last winter, I invested in some traditional cross-country skis and took a lesson at the lodge where the girls ski every Saturday afternoon.

One lesson and a couple weeks of kick-gliding through the trails at the lodge did not prepare me to get up that hill.

“Be careful when you cross the road,” Julie told me when she found out it was my first time. She didn’t tell me what to be careful of, and I was too afraid to ask.

“Watch out for that last hill with the bridge; it’s steep and it’s on a curve,” Suzy warned.

Shit.

How did I not know there were hills — big hills — on this course?

OK…well, whatever. Just finish it. Correction: Just finish it without breaking any bones.

The horn blows and the skate skiers take off. They’re up and over the mountain before us newbies even get to the bottom of it. They left us a gift though — chopped up snow, perfect traction for cautious v-stepping skiers.

I strong-arm my way up, digging in hard with my poles and pushing up off them.

At the top, we meander along a winding path.

This isn’t so bad. It might even be fun.

Then I see a ski patrol guy guarding a hill.

I try to slow down by snowplowing and it occurs to me that the snowplow doesn’t work for shit when there’s no snow to plow. I get low, bend my knees and pray to God the old guy in front of me doesn’t fall down because I have no clue how to turn or stop.

About 2 miles in, I hear them announcing the first finishers.

How depressing.

I ski on. Up and down. Around and Around. I gut it out at the hills and manage to make it down most of them without falling.

The course is not for beginners. It’s exhausting, and I just want it to be over. But it goes on and on for five long miles.

As I come up to the finish line, I see the girls standing on the porch of the golf clubhouse, waving and smiling.

“Go, Mom!” Kelly yells.

I give her a big smile and cross the finish line just shy of an hour. Not bad for my first time on a difficult course, but more than twice the time the good skiers turned in.

I’m in last place in my age group for the ski event. And I’m in last place in my age group for the overall quad (those that finished all four events) — 7 out of 7.

I hate that I’m last, and I wonder why I keep doing the quad when I’m so bad at three out of the four events. Part of me wants to fight — to get better at those events, to buy a new bike, to take swim lessons, to try harder, to train like a quad champ, to invest in skate skis — and the other part of me wants to bow out and just quit doing the stupid quad.

I’m embarrassed by my last place finish, but I make it a point to tell the girls where I placed because I want them to know that I’m not good at everything I do, that it’s OK to finish last, and that it’s not always about winning or placing.

I had the courage to start, the strength to get through it, and the determination to finish, which is all that really matters.

____________________________
About Just Write
“What ends up revealing itself when free writing is that everything has meaning. That is a magnificent gift of writing. If we write from a free heart-gut place, our souls start speaking.”

Worth Reading

* One Tough Mother shares running wisdom from Bart Yasso’s recent Twitter chat (Don’t ask me…I don’t know what a Twitter chat is either).

* There is such a thing as waterproof winter running shoes. Who knew? Oh, right, this blogger who reviewed them. (Why don’t I get  cool stuff to review?)

* 8 Cardio Myths that are making you fat (If I had a dollar for every person who thinks marathon training will help them lose that last five pounds….)

* Slow cook some Buffalo chicken lettuce wraps

* Get off the scale!

Video of the Week

T-shirt of the Week

This is the only way I’ll ever have six-pack abs:

Get it here, but I have no idea how much it costs because it’s all Russian. I wouldn’t buy it.