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Disclaimer: this post is brimming with cheesiness. Like, total cheese overload.
Because it’s about following dreams, and specifically, how I’m following mine this weekend. At the freaking Chicago Marathon- WHAT?!
Since my senior year of high school, my eternal (and somewhat random at the time) goal was to complete a marathon. Why, might you ask? Because I randomly decided to run cross country instead of playing volleyball in the fall. And I hated it. A cat likes to swim more than I liked to run long distances. So naturally, I made a pact with myself to run an infamously long distance: the marathon, aka 26.2 miles of long distance death.
And while that seems completely and utterly random, there was some crazy reasoning behind it. You know that feeling of completing the hardest thing you’ve ever had to do? Of conquesting that mountain you never dreamed you could summit? That was cross country for me. There’s beauty in racing against yourself, in beating your own PR, and becoming the best {insert basically anything here} that you can be. And there’s strength in going just a little bit further than you thought you could, and in an incredibly ironic way, those awful three months taught me a lot about myself, my limits, and the things I could accomplish.
And since then, I’ve pondered signing up to overcome this long-awaited goal, but I convinced myself I wasn’t ready. And then in April, on a whim, I applied to run in the Chicago marathon. Not because I was ready, but because the best, most challenging, and most rewarding things usually occur at a time when you’re not “ready.” You just make yourself ready. That’s when the good stuff happens.
So, whether you’re running the marathon with me this weekend, or tackling something big at work, or an entirely different dream, this playlist honors those scary moments between “not yet, ” and “what the heck?”.
Wish me luck and be on the lookout next week for my full recap of this weekend, complete with the kick-butt brands that have helped me train, race and recover!
