For starters, I decided to try something I always thought I would never do in my life: I participated in a 5k - the Color Vibe 5k to be exact. I imagined it would be a pretty awful experience just because I have never been a runner in my life (I am more of an elliptical kind of gal). But I was determined to do this for myself. And, it was for a good cause too!
I wanted to train as much as a could for it. I downloaded the Couch to 5K app on my Kindle - and it kicked my butt. And I felt muscles I never knew existed. But, I kept pushing myself to do it and every time became a bit easier for me, and I found myself running a little longer each time. Unfortunately, a couple of weeks into it I pushed myself a little too hard and killed both of my knees. I could hardly even walk for a week. Thankfully, it turned out it was just some strained muscles in my knees, but I was scared to go back to my training.
Before I knew it, the 5k came around. My sister Stephanie went with me, though I was a bit apprehensive about even participating at that point because I didn't get much more training done. As it turned out, the running I was able to do was just as good as how I was training and a lot of other people were just walking anyway, so I didn't feel like I was failing at anything.
I had a really good experience and I finished in 45 minutes, which wasn't as good as I originally hoped for, but it wasn't as bad as what I assumed would end up happening. I really want to do this again next year, but I plan to train a lot more for it and do a lot better. I feel pretty proud of myself for accomplishing this.
And, this is not all that I have gained courage for. I am working on a project that I have been wanting to do for a couple of years now, but I never have had the confidence to do it. I can't say what it is I am doing at this time, but I will once I get farther into it (or if you can guess what I'm doing) I will be sure to let everyone know. I just want to express how excited I am for this and that everyone should always try to follow their dreams even when it seems impossible or when they think they shouldn't even bother because they feel like they will fail. You will never know until you try, and if you don't, you have already failed yourself!!!
