Into the Abyss

Last night, we ran hills. 

Hills are a strange beast.  First of all, we have to run to the hill in order to train on it.  So we headed out from the store and ran 2.5k through the snow before we even started the hill training.  Meaning of course that, after the hills, we had to run 2.5k back to the store again.

Keep in mind that, in order to run up a hill, you have to first get to the bottom.  That long, lonely run down the hill can be frightening. This was a new hill for me, and for lots of other runners last night.  I got to the top and looked down

and down

and down. 

I couldn't even see the bottom.

*sigh*

A thought struck me as I took the first step into the abyss: it takes a lot of confidence to be a runner, even if we don't recognize it as that.  We need a certain amount of faith in our own abilities in order to tie up our shoes and head out.

Blindly, we all headed down the hill, not having any idea how long or how steep it was.  But we knew that we would somehow find the strength needed to complete the hill workout and then climb back up to the top so that we could head home again.

Saturdays are another great example of having faith in oneself.  Saturdays are the days when we add distance to our runs - 2 to 3 kilometers per week.  Sometimes this distance makes us nervous, sometimes it hurts, but we do the run and never doubt that we will finish. 

We could all take a lesson from running and apply it to our every day lives.  Break things down into small manageable chunks and don't be afraid to head into the abyss.  It's never that scary once you take the first step.