Second Wind / Challenge Thrown Down

Huffing and puffing happened, but there would be no blowing down of the house.

I took off for my run today feeling great! The weather was perfect. My legs felt loose. My lungs felt open. I was ready to nail it...then I actually started running. It actually took about .5 miles for it really to hit me, but when it hit, it hit. All of the sudden my lungs really tightened up and I had little mini coughing spasms. Now, coughing spasm during my run is something I am very used to, but the problem this time was the 3 bowls of Raisin Bran sloshing around in my stomach that had been consumed an hour prior. Not great planning on my part. After feeling great and ready to kick booty, I had to stop. At this point I was dry heaving and doing my best to keep the cereal down. As I was walking down the road, thinking about exactly what NOT TO DO before my next run, I saw Mandi approaching.

I was still walking as we passed each other, but as we passed she gave me a big ol' thumbs up and yelled "push it!!". I wish I could tell you that it was right at that moment that I got the energy I needed and broke out into a full sprint to make up for some lost time. Yeah, that did not happen. I was still swallowing down the pre-puke and just trying to get to a point where I didn't feel like tossing my cookies. It took me about another 2 minutes of walking before I was in a position to harness Mandi's "second wind" and just go for it. I took off.

I started booking it down the road with only the image of Mandi with a thumbs up running through my mind. I knew I had it in me, it was just getting over that mental hurdle that was keeping me from pushing it during the first half of my run. Could I have thrown up still? Of course! But I decided that pushing it the rest of the way was more rewarding than throwing up on the side of the road would have sucked. Sometimes you just have to pick the option that will suck less. I did, and I ran. Not only did I run, but I booked it.

When I finally reached the end of my run, I was throw-up free and was actually able to post a decent pace. And I was right, finishing that run strong was worth the risk. If I would have played it safe and walked the whole way home, there's no way that I would have felt satisfied. Instead, I was able to hold my head high knowing that I pushed through the pain, queasiness and lung tightness that I faced. I mean think about. If we only accomplished things that "came easy to us" would we really be satisfied? I think not. We can be much more satisfied when we accomplish something that we really had to work for or does not come easy to us.

So I challenge you. What can you do today that may seem impossible? Walk a mile? Jog 50 yards? Do two treatments? Have a smile on your face all day? Cook an entire meal? What is it? Leave me a comment and let me know what it is!!