Fierce Determination

"No one is going to put a limit on what I'm doing." -Michael Phelps

I saw this quote the other day and it is just so fitting for my life right now. It's week 12 of my running life and my official training plan has been set in motion and began Sunday. Six days a week of hard training, many two-a-days, a full time job, mother to the two cutest pups in the world and maintaining my relationships and my sanity is going to test my limits more than once in the coming months.

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I remember specific at-bats during my career as a softball player more vividly than others. There were certain pitchers I would mentally prepare for all week, and outside of practice on the field, I would literally "practice" the attitude of fierce determination that I would have when I stepped in the box to face these girls. It was an attitude of allowing no good pitch to get passed me untouched, a battle I would die before losing.

That fierce determination, and the work ethic my parents ingrained in me early on, is what made me successful on the field. For the first time in years, I feel myself recreating this attitude when I'm running.

Running practice was HOT last night. I didn't bring enough water. I rode Trekky 60 minutes in a windy 15 mph bike ride earlier that morning. The humidity and heat made breathing tough. I knew five minutes into the workout that it wasn't going to be my day. Thoughts of discouragement definitely popped into my head early on.

But the words of my father spoke louder, "When it feels like you have nothing left, dig a little deeper." No matter what, I wasn't going to stop running. I would have fierce determination.

No one, is going to put a limit to what I'm doing. No one is going to tell me I'm doing too much too quickly, that I can't do something, that I'll never be fast enough, that I'll quit eventually.

No one, not even me, is going to get in my way of my goals.