In about 5 hours I’ll be running in my first Spartan Race. Even cooler, I’m running on the Dial For Men Team. About 6 months ago I ran in my first obstacle race. It’s amazing what a life changing transformation can do you for you. It’s not just about changing your body. My biggest change has been psychological. I’m not crazy anymore. Well maybe I am, but my perspectives have changed. Like I say in other parts of my blog, I can now S.W.I.M. I have Self Control, Will Power, Inspiration and Motivation. If I see something that I want to do because I think it’s fun or because it’s a challenge, I will now go out and do it. I don’t like being a spectator, I want to participate. I’ve missed out on to much of life waiting on others to join me or waiting on me to get prepared for something or making an excuse not to do it.
While surfing the internet about a year ago I came across Tough Mudder. I thought that this looked like a great event. The first problem with it was that it was 12 miles and I had no intention of running 12 miles. I started to notice other shorter races that were similar types of races (obstacle races, mud runs, zombie runs). Many of these were only 5k. That I could handle. The most I had ever run before was 8 miles and I did that twice (with no obstacles). Funny thing is I noticed that 30 plus Facebook friends like Tough Mudder and even some of these other races. Even funnier, like me, most of them haven’t done the Tough Mudder or even the shorter ones. But a lot of them have told me that they want to do them. Why like something if you aren’t going to do it? Naturally, I liked it too. Maybe some day I would even see what one of these races were like. If nothing else “LIKE” as many as possible on Facebook.
My first race was early in my transformation and it wasn’t easy. I tried to find other people who would race with me, but either they had plans or hadn’t trained for it. I’m not going to say that today’s race will be easy either but these are challenges that are continuing to help form my new life. For those of you who think they would like to do one of these but are using the “I’m not in shape or I’m not ready” excuse to not do it. Think again. Do it at your own pace. I see a lot of people who do these things for the fun of it and they are not always the fittest people, but they have fun. If you pick one out several weeks away and start working out now, you can make dramatic changes in 3 to 6 weeks. If you decide that you like it, the next one can be more of a challenge for you if that is what you want.
Don’t just “Like it” on Facebook, go out and do it. Don’t wait for someone else to join you. If they do, great. Get out and S.W.I.M.
Evolve My Life ™ 