A World Without Limits

What is your dream, your biggest dream...the DREAM....the one that scares you so much that you don't dare talk about it.  We all have dreams, some are small and some are so big we are not the person who can accomplish them yet, we have to grow to become that person.  I have been thinking a lot about dreams, big ones, small ones, short term ones and long term ones, dreams so crazy I can't say them out-load yet.  I saw this video about these dreams and it spoke to me...

I love helping people think about their dreams and then achieve them, it is a chance to give back and repay the kindness shown to me. I remember a time five years ago when I did not have dreams because to have a dream meant putting myself out there, you know...out in that uncomfortable place where I might fail.  My fear of failure was stopping me from living...really living.  Yes I was living, I had a family and friends but I was pretending, pretending to be happy, pretending to be moving forward and yes pretending to be me.  I knew who I wanted to be but I was afraid I would fail, yet again.   One of my favorite songs is Waiting for my Real Life to Begin by Colin Hay

That is how I felt, like I was waiting for my real life to begin and the longer I waited the harder it became.  Finally the day arrived when I was done waiting and I had to get out there and do it.  I literally had mountains to climb, places I wanted to go and things I wanted to do.  I wish I could say it was because of some big life event but it wasn't, it was the voice inside my head that said "the time is now" and this time I listened. 

We can't wait for our real life to begin, we could wait for so long and it could be too late.  Today at work I saw a video that really had an impact on me, my life in jelly beans and I realized, I was almost out of jelly beans.

It is up to me to decide how I want to use my last jelly beans/days and the impact I will have on my family, my friends and myself.  We all must decide how we will use our jelly beans so I dare you, say it out-load...the BIG DREAM..the really big one that scares you.  Tell me what it is and when you want to accomplish it by and I will be your cheerleader, cheering you on to accomplish the dream.  It is time to stop waiting and start doing.   I will start...this is just a whisper at this stage, I am not ready to turn it into a full fledged thing yet but the voice in my head is saying do it and it is getting louder...it is saying Ultraman...God help me.

An Extraordinary Discovery

Happy 2015!!!!  This is a big year for me and I am looking forward to my training and I can say, I am 100% for the year so far :-)  

Today I had to run 18K, the last 4k at tempo but Mother Nature had a hissy fit and dumped a load of snow and ice on us in Ottawa.  I knew I had to get my workout done and it was not happening outside so it was me and the treadmill, alone at last.  I use to love running on my treadmill but now it is complicated.  I would rather run outside with my friends, even in the cold and snow but ice is another matter all together. I though of all kinds of excuse not to do it but in the end I knew I had too but I needed motivation, special motivation.  I called upon our special weapon, "Running the Sahara", a movie about 3 guys who run across the Sahara desert...for fun! Charlie, Kevin and Ray run 6920km in 111 days, so compared to that I had nothing to complain about. 

My workout was in 2 parts, 14k at my long slow pace and the last 4k at tempo pace and the movie lasted for the first 14K, perfect timing.  I was not sure if I would be able to pick up the pace at the end and thoughts of not doing it ran through my mind when Ray was summing up the journey in the movie.  I can not remember exactly what he said but I found this on his website that kind of sums it up. We are the only person who stands in the way of us achieving what we want, have a look

 Gobi Trailer

So to cut a long story short, I cranked up the pace on the treadmill and ran it at my half marathon race pace and the last mile at my 5K race pace...lets just say, I was tired of standing in my own way and I had better move out of the way or I was going to get run over.  

My coach is another amazing athlete and she believes in me, all the time...Neale believes in me and so do my friends.  They tell me I am an inspiration and a great athlete but I never quite believe it, I think I am average at best.  I decided today, running and crying on the treadmill to get out of own way, to believe in myself as much as they do...and it feels GREAT!!!  Thank you to everyone who believes in me, it took me awhile but I got here eventually, 2015 is my year to be extraordinary!