Just run.

              (This is the incredible view from fish creek ridge I get on my evening runs.)
Ok, so for those of you who live near me, did you know how beautiful it is up on the fish creek park ridge when the sun is setting?  As beautiful as that view is, I did learn that it is creepy running down by the river after the sun sets with only moonlight and little animals scattering nearby....very creepy.

So, I wanted to share my story of how and when I fell in love with running.

It was when I was living in Geneva, Switzerland and working as a nanny.  We were having a friendly little family weight loss competition, so I woke up before work and ran almost every morning. At first, I ran with the outcome prevalent in my mind. For example, I wanted to run for a particular amount of time without stopping and my mind was consumed with this desired result. I also wanted to lose a certain amount of weight and I worried whether or not this would happen. I was discouraged when I started to feel pain because I doubted my ability to keep running and  I was weighed down by the discrepancy between where I was at and where I wanted to be.  Essentially, the discrepancy between the moment and the desired result brought despair to the moment.

One day, while running along and commencing my habitual obsession with how much longer I needed to run and how much it hurt, I had these clear words come into my mind, "JUST RUN".  That was the key for me and I have experienced running differently ever since.  I have learned to enjoy being in the moment when I run, without obsessing about the future.  I have learned to relax into my running and allow myself to be mentally present.  I have learned that in running, as in life, the future will be what it will be but worrying about it only holds the present hostage. I am not perfect at this but that's ok too.

I learned this lesson nine years ago but this morning while biking at the gym, I read this same principle stated differently in my book, "The Triathletes Guide to Mental Training".  It states
"Many triathletes believe that by focusing on the outcome, that is, on a certain result, they're more likely to achieve that outcome.  Having an outcome focus, however, actually hurts performance and makes it less likely you'll achieve your goals.  Every time you shift from a process focus to an outcome focus, your performance will decline."

I believe in setting goals.  I also believe that we need to live in the present, even though the long term goal will always be in the back of our mind.  When a goal feels overwhelming, it needs to be broken up into smaller, more manageable goals so that we can do what needs to be done in the moment and live in the moment and most of all, enjoy the moment.