I Think I Can - Motivational Monday

Yesterday I ran a five mile trail run race. It’s been a LONG time since I ran on trails so I was excited for the different terrain and scenery. I was also nervous as I am still not in a consistent running routine.

When the sound went off about 50 people and I started on our way down a street towards the trail. Feeling pretty fatigued eventually I made it to the only water station in the course. I grabbed the cup of water drank half and threw the rest on my head. I continued on. A few minutes later, feeling like there was no more than a mile and a half left in the race, I asked the woman running in front of me what her GPS watch was reading. “We are at two and a half miles,” she said. Yikes - how was I to finish this race.

The night before the race I babysat a two-year-old boy. Like most nightly routines for toddlers I read to him before bed. One of the books the boy’s father put out for us to read was The Little Engine That Could.

Just in case you can’t recall the classic story, here are the cliffnotes. A train carrying toys and delicious food gets stuck at the bottom of a hill on its way to make a delivery to the children in a town nearby. Several trains pass by, however when they are asked to help they either say they are too tired or too good to pull the train and all it's carrying. Then a little blue train comes along. The train doesn’t think it can do the task, but it tries. While making its way up the mountain with the toys and delicious food the train repeats to itself “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.” Eventually the train makes it up over the hill and the toys rejoice.

Trying to find the strength to persevere through the three plus miles I had left in my race I found myself saying those words. I told myself I could do this. The race only seemed to get harder but I told myself I was not a quitter. I could, and I would do this. Finally I made it out of the trail and back to the pavement and finished the race. I did it.

If you tell yourself you can, you will. It’s as simple as that.

#Candoattitude #motivationalmonday #inspiration