When I arrived at the Peace Corps Panama Headquarters Office in Panama City, the staff members that welcomed us said: “Welcome to the hardest job you’ll ever love.” Boy were they on point! There were so many aspects of my service that were difficult, both emotionally, and physically, but I wouldn't have changed it for anything in the world. When we do things we are passionate about, they are hard, they take work, they take time, and they take sacrifice...but they are worth it (EVERY TIME). 

FIND YOUR PURPOSE. We need a STRONG reason to do what we do because we will get questioned. we will doubt, we will be tempted to stop, give up, or give in. Whether we are on a run or in a rut, having that goal line clearly defined, having that justification for getting out of bed clearly defined, and having that reason to hang on the last minute of a sprint on a training ride...that will make all the difference between giving in and holding on!

BE PROCESS DRIVEN. We live in a GOAL oriented society where we ask ourselves and those around us what their short and long term goals, personal, professional, and physical. As I look more closely at those GOALS, I see that we measure their success by how SMART they were (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timed). Unfortunately numbers, figures, places, times, stats, scores,  and medals are what matter. Results  define our success. But goals can be results driven or process driven. Process Driven outcomes are more subjective. “ I want to feel happier, I want my clothes to fit better, I want to have a bigger impact on the world around me.” Though these are harder to measure, you can still consider it a success or failure. This type of goal setting is useful for changes of mind-set or habits over time.  As runners, our JOURNEY is as important, as our goal. Getting to the finish can only happen if we take all the steps in between! 

BE PERSISTENT. The Peace Corps slogan asks: How far are you will to go to make a difference? It’s a question that we need to ask ourselves in everything that we do. The answer lies in how successful we want to be. We  need go as far as it takes. We need to keep logging mileages, eating right, forgiving, pursuing, believing , and loving, as long as it takes; We need to be consistent and persistent, in order for change to happen.  As we train, we will go through ups and downs, through periods of inspiration and desperation, through highs and lows, and heavy’s and light’s...But we can't Give UP, we can't give in! There is always an answer to everything.

Happy Changing!

Last night, at 6:55pm, after a long day at work, with blisters adorning my achilles and consequently sending currents of pain up my leg, I taped up my feet, put my compression socks on, and strapped on a smile that would later turn into a game face.

As we started the mile warm-up, my legs felt heavy and I wasn't expecting too much out of my body for the workout, besides going through the motions,  which I knew would be good for me- quicker turnover, faster cadence-style running.

When we got into the bread and butter--the 300s, I thought: "Shoot, this may be a little harder than I was expecting." But then I looked around and saw all the other people who were doing the workout and realized that it really is ALL MENTAL. Our perspective of the situation at hand. I shifted to focusing on what was my original intent...working on my stride length, which is what I had come to do. I felt like I was chopping my steps, since my stride is usually much longer. It felt awkward, almost robotic....but I was going faster. The repeats just seemed to pass me by. By the time I asked how many sets we had left, we were 2 away from being done and I felt stronger than ever.

When the 300s were over, the workout wasn't. We still had a 2 mile tempo run left. I saw two guys take off and without letting my doubts creep in, I followed. Jokingly I said under my breath to a couple other girls who were taking off on the tempo: Anything they can do, we can do---or we'll die trying. I guess a part of you has to believe that in order to attempt to try and run with them. They do have more muscle strength, they do have more speed....but us girls...we can be fierce when we want to be.

Turns out  I didn't die. I felt great. I even started to have thoughts about how fast I could race if I actually continued to train like this. In races, I guess we hold back because we feel like we are going to DIE...but workouts are a little different. That fear of dyeing is somewhat suppressed by the fact that the outcome of the workout doesn't matter as much since it's "just a practice". 


 I thought of Aristotle's' quote:  "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." And therein lies the problem--maintaining that level of intensity, pushing yourself in workouts till you feel like throwing up,  finding the inspiration to stick with it, not let up,  and not being scared of being EXHAUSTED---those are the habits that are hard to develop! 

- Happy training

So this morning, a friend (Brittany) sent me an email that really made my day! She sent me a PDF of a presentation she saw...where the subject was RESILIENCE. She told me: "Each of us has our own story, our own setbacks and our own triumphs...and its all apart of our journey through the "human condition. Its amazing to see how resilient humans are and can be."

There are a lot of things that I thought I would never be able to do, but just as this marathon keeps proving to me, THE HUMAN CONDITION is INCREDIBLE....I'm amazed at what I have been able to achieve and continue to do besides the emotional and physical setbacks. I don't want to be a person that is constantly blaming those circumstances that surround me...for my inability to live a fulfilling life! It's always our choice! It's our choice to thank those around us who give us the opportunity to stop everything and start over from scratch. It's our choice to look at the things that are making us suffer or causing internal conflict when we look in the mirror and CHANGE that about OURSELVES. We are the only ones that should be amazed at who see see staring back at us in the mirror every morning (wink wink).

As the reality of this marathon creeps closer and the pain from my bike accident 14 days ago still hasn't
allowed me to run more than 8 miles...I realize that success and failure are subjective. Sunday morning's race will be run to push my limits--obviously the physical ones, but my limits of courage as well. I'll be
needing a MONUMENTAL amount of courage for this next chapter as one story ends and another one beautifully begins. I will need courage to not back out, and NOT GIVE UP on myself, on my goals, on my dreams, and on the future that I see! I need courage to continue to love my life and be thankful for all the amzing people in it who challenge me everyday to BE BETTER. 

- Happy Marathoning!

You would think that I'm one of the marathoners lining up to compete this weekend, but no, I'm sitting in front of my computer gathering myself, trying to give myself a pep-talk!

In a couple minutes I will be submitting my first article for RUN SOUTH FLORIDA MAGAZINE. I've spent most of the day editing, proofing, and re-reading this first piece. Every time I thought I was done, or got it right, I would find something else that I thought I would want to add or take out. Well into the 7th and 8th drafts I started to wonder if I would ever get it "PERFECT". 

We always allow doubt to creep in and make us feel like we aren't ready to race, we should have done more, we should have maybe kept that line in and take out the other two, but I know all that's left for me do is trust my writing (training),...TAKE A DEEP BREATH and have that mouse hover over the SEND button.

With the same courage that it takes to shake out nerves at the starting line, and the same tenacity it takes to block out the voices that try to intimidate our hearts while we race, I'm going to submit this piece.  I only hope that all of these feelings go away as soon as the GUN GOES OFF and this article starts traveling into the CYBERWORLD.

Here goes nothing....

Stay tuned at www.runsouthflorida.com 
for Magazine Premier Soon!

A couple years ago while serving as an Agriculture volunteer in the Peace Corps in Panama, I was out on a regular morning run through one of the "soccer fields" (aka area without trees and temporarily without cars full of potholes but with two bamboo goals and relatively low grass) in my community, when all of a sudden I felt a snap in my right foot and the pain instantly brought me to the floor. I was nervous to even unlace my shoe for fear that I would find my foot broken in half. 

The experience was one I will never forget. Not only did it take Peace Corps Nurse 2 1/2 hours to get to me from the PC headquarters, but the entire day felt just out of a SITCOM.

But back to my injury: When I finally arrived at the hospital in Panama City, and confirmed that the excruciating pain I was feeling was in fact due to a fracture in my arch and not an over dramatic/low-pain tolerance cry for attention....that's when the fun really started. Doctors and nurses asked me HOW THIS HAD HAPPEND. As I spoke, they huddled around, inching closer and closer like toddlers at a library story-time or groupies around basketball players. They got a kick out of the fact that I had sustained my injury from RUNNING....not running from anything or anyone, not running somewhere specific, and not even with a soccer ball (on the soccer field). They rolled their eyes, snickered, grunted, and some straight up laughed in my face. As they walked away, I could hear them mumble under their breath-- "crazy Americans" (as if I wasn't 2 feet away on the stretcher). They didn't get it.

Running as a sport, for exercise, for fun, and even more so as a social activity is relatively new in some places. But even here, in this FIRST WORLD country we live in, there are many people that still find it CRAZY and have a hard time wrapping their head around the sport.

The other day, when a friend of mine posted the picture below on Instagram, it got me thinking. The picture  read: "Sometimes you can't explain what you see in a person, it's just
the way they take you to a place where no one else can." At that moment I realized that at one point or another we have all fallen in love, reeeeaaaaallllyyy liked someone, or been completely infactuated with another person.  At those times, we may have been at a loss when our friends asked us WHY HIM (or Her)? Though we may have tried to put together a "good" list to justify our reasoning, our attraction, or emotions---sometimes we were just unable. We just knew it felt right.

At the risk of soundy cheesy, I can say the same applies to running: Sometimes you can't explain what it is about running, it's just the way it can take you to a place where nothing else can. Now I'd be lying if I said every run I did,  I felt head over heels for the sport, because some days are just downright hard,  but overall, when I'm running I feel that I'm doing exactly what I'm meant to be doing. As runners we find reasons to lace our shoes back up time and time and time again for weeks, months, and years because of that PLACE that running allows us to get to. A place that only each individual runner knows about, understands, and most of the time can't explain. And just like when you are in love, it doesn't matter if the people around you get it or not, think you are crazy, snicker, laugh, or question you......as long as it makes sense to you, feels right to you--- THAT'S ALL THAT REALLY MATTERS!

- Happy Running