Dream Big

Training notes: Yesterday's long run was frustrating - just never felt like I was in the groove. Taking today off, though I'll be working out my core with the HARD CORE club. Looking to put in 35 - 40 miles this week. I don't have any race solidly in my sights, so I'm going to float along with training at least until school starts back up.

"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it;
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

There are dreams, and then there are DREAMS. Those big, audacious goals that we hardly admit to ourselves, let alone others. But there they are. We keep them closely guarded because to have someone scoff or discourage would be too painful. We might even doubt our ability to achieve that big dream. So we keep it silent.

If you're like me, you will own up to modest versions of the big dream. A sub 4 hour marathon rather than a BQ. Running a 100 miler rather than Badwater. Traversing Colorado rather than the entire Continental Divide Trail.

If Jack Denness settled for running a Badwater at age 70,
he would have never known that he could do it at the age of 75.

It's easy to do. Even our smaller goals can get knocked down - we settle for 5 miles rather than the 7 we'd really like to do. It can be hard to tell the difference between being smart and being scared. How do we learn to know when we are holding back for the wrong reasons?

I think the only way to figure out is to go for it. If you want to push a run further, go for it - stop if you feel an injury coming on, but don't stop yourself just because you *think* it might do harm. There are lies we tell ourselves out of fear - my favorite may be that I get hurt when I run too fast, so really, I need to abandon that goal of running a 1:40 half marathon. I call it a lie because I don't really know if this is so, and until I prove it right, who is to say what the truth is.

As for those DREAMS - well, it seems the only way to see what is possible is to...see what is possible. Train like you are doing it; you'll work out what you are ready for soon enough. But we'll never know what if we are capable of those big dreams unless we keep them as they are - big, audacious and grand. Don't sell them - or yourself - short.

What is your big, bold dream? Are you holding that big dream or settling on a modest version? Admit to yourself today what you'd really love to achieve.