In every race, there’s a few glamorous steps forward you take.
The step across the starting line, the step across the finish line and possibly the steps in front of the water stations where you smile at the volunteers as you try and convince them that you’re not actually tired yet.
Those steps are the easy ones. When you’re starting out, you’re not quite tired yet and the steps are pretty easy. When you’re finishing, you see the end goal and they get easier. The ones at the water stations, you have your ego to protect so somehow you try your best to shrug off the fatigue.
But in between they’re not always easy.
Not all steps are equal.
Some are downright ugly. Sometimes, they don’t even look like steps. Sometimes, your steps forward are really you just doing your best to drag drag your tired legs forward and trying to make it not look too much like a limp.
But if you want to finish something, you have to to that. You have to move forward.
The defining difference between the people that start things and the people that finish them is the ability to take move forward – one ugly step at a time.
You have to be willing to take the ugly step forward.
It’s not always glamorous and it’s not always pretty, but you move forward. And that’s what matters.
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I’ll be in San Francisco this week to see Nate finish his walk across America. Will you be around? Let me know.
Also, if you ordered an Impossible Shirt in the past few days, they should be shipping today. #BOOM.
[Photo Credit]
I think that learning to embrace pain is one the most important parts of finishing any big undertaking. if you can beat them join them 🙂
Learning to lean into pain is the key thing I’ve learned from endurance activities. If you can learn how to do that, you can learn to do anything.
Still trying to get across the starting line … your post just got me closer.
Thanks for the morning pick-me-up!
No problem. Time to start!
Good way of thinking, both when it comes to life and running races. I’d say the large majority of my steps are ugly when I run.. I just hope I can make them faster, even if they stay equally as ugly 😉
Nice post!
A lot of times, it’s not even about whether they’re ugly or fast, but whether you’re able to string enough steps together in a row to realize a difference.
Haha, a running friend sent me this recently: http://opheliaswebb.tumblr.com/post/11155398988/elizabethfarmer-this-makes-me-laugh-so-much
A meme that sums it up pretty well I think. As long as you feel like you are going somewhere or you are wanting to be there, who cares about anything else. I’ve never run a road race to have someone else look at me and say “Wow, that was hot!” I’m Irish-Italian…I’m a red, sweating, big haired mess at the finish line!
But the grin on my face, having accomplished it?
Makes everything else a non-issue.
Hahaha. Best Comic Ever.