My Marathon Journey
As I am writing this blog, I have one man in mind: none other than Steve Jobs. Few people in the world haven’t heard of him, and most young adults in this world all own a piece of his Apple legacy. But why I want to write about him? He is a very interesting figure to me. A native San Franciscan, an adopted child, his creation would not have happened had he gotten a normal university education. Jobs dropped out of college after 6 months, spent next 18 months dropping in on creative classes, including calligraphy. Jobs later said, “If I had never dropped in on that single calligraphy course in college, The Mac book would never had the multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts.”
So why is this relevant to runners? The answer is a lot of times things happen for a reason — by fate or destiny. My marathoner journey was such that I never intentionally planned to become one. I was introduced to the sport accidentally and fell in love with it.
From my first charity 8k run, to my Goofy Challenge last week, and 38 marathons later, I can honestly admit to you that I have encountered sleepless nights, disappointments, aches and pains, frustrations, obstacles, and even failures (DNF’s). Through it all, I have blossomed into the more focused, self-driven athlete that I am today, but not without hard work, dedication, commitment and self-motivation. At the same time, the understanding & support of my husband, my children, my family, my coaches and running buddies have all contributed to my success!
Therefore , I can boldly say, there is an ATHLETE inside everyone of you-waiting to be discovered. So, dare to venture forward, take that first giant step… it will guide you to bigger and better things.
Running will reward you accordingly, what you put in is what you get out. It is very black and white. Your race results won’t lie. Besides bragging rights, it has been proven runners live longer and look younger!
What are you waiting for? Lace up your running shoes and start running. I guarantee that if I can do it, so can you!
To close, may I quote the words that Steve Jobs offered to the 2005 Stanford graduates: “Stay Hungry, Stay foolish!…. Don’t lose faith. I am convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did.”
So did I… I love what I have done.. my journey has just begun… and the best is yet to come!