Run for Haiti

Last Saturday I ran a 4 mile benefit race for Haiti relief. Truthfully, I was terrified of it. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve had a mild case of asthma and it makes running in the winter unbearable. I feel like I’m breathing through a straw. It was in my head that running four miles continuously in the dead of February was something I couldn’t do. It's something I’ve struggled with ever since I can remember. I believe in a lot of cases, the fear of failure holds us back from accomplishing things that we aren’t sure about. Sometimes we’ll even do things half-heartedly so that when we fail, you don’t blame yourself. You can make excuses and move on. I decided that morning that I was going to try and finish the run. I set a goal for my mile pace and did my best to stick to it. The results were even better than expected. I beat my projected pace and felt great after I crossed the finish line. I went from thinking I couldn’t finish to knowing that I could at least run another 2 or 3 miles before hitting the wall. Physically, the race told me that I’m headed in the right direction for my training. The biggest benefit to the race was proving how much of this is mental. When you mentally limit yourself, you will be limited physically. You never know what you’re capable of until you drop your concept and just try. All you have to do is set a path and move forward. If you fail, learn and try again. I’ve let fear limit me in so many ways. 4 miles through central park may seem trivial, but taking a chance on this race was game changing in a lot of ways for me. I like being certain of my abilities. I like to play it safe. In the past few months, I’ve learned that if you play it safe, you’re cheating yourself out of everything that can happen when you allow yourself to fail. Allowing yourself to risk failure and getting up when you do is probably the greatest gift you can give yourself.