Do Not Open Until Race Day - Chicago Marathon
The nerves, fears, doubts, and hesitation are real. But so is the excitement. Your heart is racing, and maybe you’re looking for an ace to use that moment in the race when everything hurts and, “I can’t do this” sounds a hell of a lot louder than, “Yes I can.”
Before you cross the starting line, take a second to ask yourself this: “What do I run for?” Then write your answer down somewhere where you’ll see it. Maybe on your hand. Or shoe. Or maybe on your arm. Then, whenever you’re feeling scared, intimidated, or paralyzed by doubt and fatigue, look at it and remember what drives you to persevere.
No matter what happens out there on the course, know that you can't fail. You’ve already done the work. Whenever you start to ask yourself, “Am I good enough?” remind yourself that you’ve already won. There will be many, many moments during the race when you’ll have to negotiate with yourself. Don’t let a single setback derail you. Until you get to that finish line, you can always make the decision to push yourself towards that place that scares the crap out of you. Every single step is a new opportunity to fight.
Success is about having the courage to set an intimidating goal, put in the work, give your best effort every single day, and show up on race day, ready to embrace whatever comes your way. Some days, everything clicks and despite the fact that it will never be easy or perfect, we persist, and we make our goal, the thing we never thought we were capable of, a reality.
Give yourself permission to envision the perfect scenario. Give yourself permission to succeed. Regardless of what’s happened in the past, know that you’re capable of accomplishing anything you set your mind to. You’re always in control. Always.
You prepared for this.
You have this.
You can and you will.
We’re all flying beside you. Head up, wings out.
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Racing - Races
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