Do it

The question of the day, "How do I run faster?" The answer is...............you run faster.

I am asked this question A LOT. I have answered it many times and have blogged about it before. And, I am sure that I will blog about it again. The answer seems simple and frustrating. Yes, simple. Yes, frustrating. I like the simple. I do not like the frustrating. Why is the answer frustrating? I think it is because the only way to do something is to DO IT. The problem - we want something when we want it, how we want it and where we want it - and, we want to do it perfectly the first time.

Working hard and having patience are not up there on the "want to" list. Sure, we all want to have patience and we want to benefit from hard work, but do we want to do what it takes to get either? I'll take the hard work over the patience exercises any day. Both take consistency, commitment and an acceptance of delayed gratification.

I started out my marathoning by walking. No running. Walking. I have very slowly gained speed for the last 7 years. This morning, as on most Tuesday mornings, I went out for my "speed" run. Now, understand, I am a threat to no one out there. I race against myself - no one else. When someone sees me trotting (slogging) down the road, the last word they would use to describe me is "fast". Even so, I go out each week to work on my speed, so that I become a faster runner. Some days, I am slower than the week before, some days I am about the same and then there are days like today when I finally see some progress. How exciting! I see that the hard work I am putting in is paying off. If I am patient and I work hard, I will reap the benefits.

Aren't there many other things in life that work the same way? How many times do we want to improve in a certain area, but are unwilling to put in the work and patience necessary to reap the benefits? It is too easy to give up and move on to the next thing. Is there something you want? Something that is going to take hard work and patience? The only way to achieve it is to start working on it today, right now. Do what you can today to move closer to your goal. Tomorrow, do the same thing - take another step towards that goal. Don't let the sun go down without moving forward, even if it is a small step - every one counts!

In Marathon Makeover, we help people get up off of the couch and take that first step towards better help by walking ONE MILE. You have to start somewhere. By consistently building on that very first mile, they are able to finish a marathon. We build slowly and consistently. By continuing to get out there and do what each day requires, lives are changed and marathons are finished. It really is as simple as that.

What is it that you want to change, do or achieve? What do you need to do to get there? You can't get it done if you don't show up, so show up.