Trust Your Inner Strength

We are all capable of doing and achieving more than

we think is possible. Whether it’s getting through
tough
times in our personal lives, hitting difficult deadlines
and
performance goals at work, or increasing the amount
of
repetitions and intensity in a workout, we can
sometimes
do what is seemingly impossible by simply putting our
minds to it and pushing ourselves beyond our
perceived
limitations. But if we don’t trust our inner strength, we
may start to shy away from challenges, fail to realize
our
full potential, or give up on our dreams—all of which
can
be sources of regret. In the end, it comes down to
whether
or not we are willing to truly believe in ourselves and
our
abilities.
Case in point: several years ago I got the crazy idea
that I was going to run a marathon. First you must
understand
that I am not a long-distance runner. Actually I’m
not much of a runner at all—in a good month I might
run
one to two miles every couple of weeks. Plus I run
really,
really slow. So when I signed up on a whim for the
Rock
’n’ Roll Marathon just a couple of months before the
race,
it would be fair to assume that I was delusional in
setting
a personal goal of running 26.2 miles.
My training plan was simple: “Run more than I do
right now.” During the fi rst week, I did a series of
short
runs every other day. Then over the weekend I decided
to go for a career high eight-mile run to test my
stamina.
Suffi ce it to say that by mile fi ve I thought I was
going to
die. For the next several days every part of my body
ached
and I could barely walk. Without further deliberation I
put the marathon idea on the shelf. Some people are
runners,
but I was not. I had convinced myself that it just
wasn’t in the cards for me. In fact, I didn’t give the
race
another thought until the night before the event. After
a late evening out with friends who joked about how I
had signed up for a marathon I was never going to
run, a
deep sense of guilt and remorse came over me—I had
set a
big challenge for myself and then chickened out
because I
didn’t believe that I could really do it. I went to sleep
with
this weighing heavy on my mind.
The following morning I woke up at 5:30 a.m. without
even setting my alarm clock. As I lay in the darkness,
thinking how odd it was that I’d gotten up at the same
time I would have needed to if I was actually going to
run
the marathon, two burning questions moved to the
forefront
of my thoughts: (1) Will I regret it if I blow off this
race? and (2) If I don’t blow it off, do I have what it
takes
to fi nish it? Certainly, not training, being severely out
of
shape, and staying out late the night before was not
the
best recipe for success. But as in the “Run, Forrest,
run”
scene in Forrest Gump, I suddenly had the inspiration
to
just start running. I quickly grabbed my jogging shoes
and
an old T-shirt and headed to the race.
The excitement of doing something this ridiculous
carried
me for the fi rst half of the marathon. However, soon
after that I hit the wall. My natural turtle-like pace
became
even slower, so much so that an elderly woman who
was
speedwalking the race with a cane actually passed
me. At
that point it occurred to me that I either had to give up
and live with the regret of not completing the race or fi
nd
the inner strength to push on. I felt sick to my
stomach,
dizzy, and winded. But with every ounce of energy I
could
muster, I made my legs move a little faster and told
myself
that I would regret it if I didn’t keep going. While it
took
me six hours and thirteen minutes to complete the
race—
twice as long as it takes many runners—I succeeded in
achieving my goal of making it to the fi nish line.
Running a marathon without training for it isn’t the
smartest idea in the world. But the experience proved
to me
that when we trust our inner strength, anything is
possible.
It also showed me that sources of regret such as
underachieving,
throwing in the towel too early, and underestimating
ourselves are potentially avoidable. Whenever you are
faced
with a difficult challenge or an opportunity that seems
out
of reach, remember that each of us has the ability to
conquer
our perceived limitations and fears. Believe in yourself
and your abilities, and most of all trust your inner
strength.