what sprints have taught me

My friend Leann is a runner.  Like a true runner.  A hard-core train for marathons kind of runner.  The kind that runs 10 miles on a Saturday "just for fun" even when she's not training for anything.  Me?  I like to run, but I'm what I like to call a lazy runner.  I enjoy it and like it, but on my own, I run 3-5 miles 2-3 times a week when the weather is nice.  Just enough to stay in decent running shape and be competitive should I happen to sign up for a 5k.

Leann is also my neighbor.  Like 6 houses away neighbor.  So we run together sometimes.  And naturally, when Leann decided to start training for a marathon, I started doing training runs with her (or I should say part of the long runs).  Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday.  Those are run days.  And Tuesday was sprint day.  Sprints are an important part of training to build up strength and speed, but not necessarily something that a runner looks forward to, or is "fun and easy."

So every Monday night Leann would text me and ask if I'm up for sprints the next day, and even though I kind of dreaded sprint day and hoped it would end up raining so we could cancel, I would always say yes.  And each time Leann told me the sprints we had to run I would think "No, I can't do that!  That sounds terrible!"  And every time we got out there and ran sprints and it was hard, I asked myself "why did I say yes to this?!"  Then it was over and sprints were done and I felt great, and strong and so glad I did it.  And that's why I said yes week after week, even though it wasn't fun and it was hard.  I knew I could do it.  I knew I would be glad I did it and the challenge was good for me.  I could see myself getting stronger, the sprints getting easier.  Even though I wanted to say no, I'm so glad I said yes.

That's the benefit of saying yes to hard things.  In this case, sprints, but there are so many other lessons I learn from running that can be applied to life and doing hard things.  Lessons about endurance.  Mindset.  Pushing yourself harder than you think you can.  Doing something you think you can't do.  Getting out of your comfort zone.  Being stronger and more confident because of what you've accomplished and knowing you can do it again.

And now that our training is over and the marathon is ran, I kind of miss sprint day and long runs and know that I'll do it again, if I can, because I will crave the challenge and want to push myself again.  I did end up running the Monumental mini marathon, since I had been training, and was able to run it even faster than I thought I could.  A 1:31 - my best time ever and it was fun.  I felt great and that's because I put in the time to do the hard work, even when I didn't want to (and thankfully I had a friend to push me the whole time!).  So here's a reminder to myself: the next time I want to say no to something hard, do it anyway.  You'll be glad you did.