Those last four miles..

First, my apologies for not blogging in a while. I must admit, they changed the format of how to blog and I thought the blogging site was down and if I would've taken the time to read through the new instructions, I would've known it wasn't down at all :-O ! Maybe that will be a blog for some other time!

I recently set a pretty big goal for myself to run 125 miles in one month. I had set this gaol before and unfortunately didn't make it. But this time I did! I ran most days and enjoyed most runs. I even took one Saturday and ran my farthest run to date, 13.2 miles! My final day of the month I had just 4 miles left to run to reach my goal. I am not kidding, I felt as if those last four miles were going to last FOREVER. My 13.2 miles seemed to be so much easier than those last four. I checked my running app every min to see how much farther I had to go, it just seemed to go on and on. I would've never given up because I was so close to finishing, but I cannot imagine having to fight every 125 miles like the last four. I started thinking about how this relates to our goals. Most of the time our journey begins with this natural high. We are so excited about the new changes, about the early results, and that keeps us going. I say ride that out! Hold on to those natural highs. Of course we lose that excitement once the new feeling wears off, we tend to keep going because we can look back and see how far we've come. Sometimes we can even see a glimpse of the finish line, and that keeps us going. But for me, I think those last four miles, that last leg of the  race, those last few pounds, those things can be the most challenging. We know we're almost there and we are tired! We are so ready to be done! Have you ever heard a senior in high school say they feel like dropping out? It's because at some point you are just done. You have put in all this hard work and time and you are just ready for the prize. Can I encourage you to hang in there? Those last four miles are just as important as the first 121 miles. When you feel like you've given all you have and you just don't have anymore to give, give just a little more. I remember on that 13.2 mile run, at the 10 mile mark I was so tired! I didn't want to keep running but I thought, well I am farther now than if I quit and start again another day. Think about how far you've come. I am in a maintenance time in my journey and these last few months have been so difficult for me. I have gone through some personal things in my life that have been difficult for me and because of that, it hasn't been the easiest to stay on track. I do believe for me, maintaining is definitely a whole other level of challenges compared to losing. You have to remember the fight that got you there and you have to dig deep to keep fighting to stay there. I feel like sometimes we'll spend some time in that "last four miles" mentality, that's when you keep going just because that's what you're supposed to do. I think I'm writing today's blog for myself. No matter what, we keep going and we keep pushing through and even when we reach our goals, we don't quit.