It All Starts with 1

First off, welcome to Spring, it may still be hiding, but I promise it is here.  With Spring comes the official start of the 2013 Bellin Run Training Schedule.  If you haven’t gotten a schedule in the mail, you can either contact me and I will send you one, or you can find one online by clicking here.  For those that have already signed up, Thank you!  If you haven’t already done so, please do.  While you may be thinking there is plenty of time to sign up, know that by signing up now you are more likely to follow through and have a successful training season and race day.  Everyone who signs up before May 1^st will receive an extra gift for doing so.  We all like free stuff, right?!

It all starts with 1….

Sometimes we are inspired in the least expected ways.  The inspiration for this post actually came when I opened the training schedule, looked at March 24^th and I saw this:  Walkers: Walk 1.  On Sunday March 24^th, if you are a walker, it is asking you to get out there and walk 1 mile.  Runners are supposed to run 1.5 – 2 miles.  There are times in our lives though where even 1 mile can seem impossible.  So let’s make this even simpler. 

Every walk, every run, no matter how far, starts with 1 step.  Many of us are veterans of the Bellin Run and have been through this before, but can you remember this first time that you decided to make running or walking part of your life.  For some, it was natural; you took your first step and never stopped.  For others like myself, I played all sorts of sports in school, but before 2010 (9 years after my last competitive sporting event), never laced up a pair of shoes with the intent of just running.  Or for others, this was the first time they made a decision to add exercise into their life.  Maybe, some of us need a reboot as they haven’t done anything since I quit bugging you last year.  :-)

No matter where we are on this very day, we can all start with 1 step and then another, and then another on our way to an active, healthy life.  Each year we are given a great opportunity to restart that journey if we have faltered by signing up for the Bellin Run.  At the end of the day, we hope that you find training for the Bellin Run and then actually doing it, is enjoyable, but if after this is all over on June 8^th and running isn’t for you, don’t be discouraged.  Just find something that you like.  We are meant to move, so find anything that you enjoy that helps you do just that.

"The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start." – John Bingham