Pick up Goals

A year ago I had a goal of becoming a better runner.  So, I organized a small running group in my neighborhood. There was up to 10 women who would run in the mornings. However, it was a core of 4 women that did most of the running. We didn’t really know each other before we started running, but now we are all good friends.  We were a group of working mommas, who had to run in the morning before work. Our usual start time was 0500 two or three times a week. We ran in the dark. We ran in the snow. We ran in temperatures below freezing. We ran and ran.

I’m pretty sure that anyone who knew me before this time, would never have thought I would have run before the sun was up or in temperatures below freezing. When I spent a year at an Army school, I frequently said, “Why run before the sun, the track is the same in the daylight.” People can change.

Honestly, I didn’t think I could do it. I definitely know that I could not have accomplished this by myself.  No way would I have run soo much by myself.  But with this team, I wasn’t going to let these ladies down. I wasn’t going to be the weak link. Whenever someone said they wanted to go running, I said that I would go with them.  I started this group and did not want to let anyone down. This winter it was hard sometimes. There were so many times that I wanted to stay in bed, but I got  up for these ladies.

This summer two of the ladies PCS’d (moved away) because their husbands are in the military and the running group has stopped. I have never been so sad. However, I kept running, but not at the same frequency. Three weeks ago, my brother pointed out that I am approximately 50 miles away from running 500 miles in a calendar year! Now I have a new goal.

Who knows the goals you can pick up along the way?

This all started by me wanting to run more. Now I have run more miles in one year than I ever thought possible. All by committing to a group of women.

Whatever you desire to achieve, find an accountability partner to jump start your progress.

In the words of Martin Luther King Jr:

Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.