We are taking a little side trail on today's episode. Get something to write this down, I think you are going to like it!

Race day was fast approaching and as we prepared to fly to Washington D.C., I was experiencing a mix of nervousness and excitement. I had never been a spectator at a marathon, let alone an athlete, so I had no idea what to expect.

Other than the marathon itself, the 20 mile run is the biggest milestone of a traditional marathon training program. And the time for my first 20 miler was getting close. We had it all planned out. What could possibly go wrong?

I did NOT want to do it. I worked really hard to avoid it, but she caught me and convinced me to give it a try and ultimately I’m so glad she did.

The story I am going to share with you today encompasses one of my biggest areas of personal growth since I began running. The title, Taking a Leap When You Don’t Feel Ready says it all. I used to avoid putting myself in situations where I lacked confidence. I can see now that this habit of shrinking back prevented progress in my life at times. Like many people, I didn’t want others to see me fail. This episode is about how that showed up as I began my running journey.

Welcome to Episode 2 The Long Run.  In episode 1 I shared about how I woke up one day as a person who did not run and by the end of my lunch break had signed up to run a marathon with my husband just five months later. Now the work would begin! Join me for a story about growing your capacity to attain new skills.

In October of 2008 I ran my first marathon. I have run many marathons and several ultra distance races since 2008, but none of them have impacted my life in the same way as that first fateful race. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that this process changed the course of my life. You may have heard of “Couch to 5k” running programs. Well I went from “Couch to 26.2 miles” in six months. As a run coach I would never recommend that to a client as a safe or smart route to take, but it is the route I took and it changed my life. Welcome to Episode 1 of Running to Myself. If you aren't a runner, don't worry! I won't try to convinced to run! I share my running journey because it has been an important vehicle to learning about myself. I won't encourage you to run, but I DO encourage you to find YOUR version of whatever opens the door to better knowing and understanding yourself.