Sometimes We Just Need Someone to Encourage

Yesterday I had the pleasure of helping a woman training for her first marathon. She was very nervous - very nervous. She has never attempted a marathon, and she was getting her shoes for the race. She needed more than the shoes though. During our conversation she told me she was afraid. I asked her what she was afraid of? "I'm afraid I won't be able to do it."

I told her about my first marathon. I told her how hard I had trained and difficult it was for me to try to do it with blisters on my heels those last 10 miles. I talked about the struggle I had, and how hard it was mentally for me to do it, but I did.

She listened attentively to what I said, and then she asked me what would happen if she couldn't do it? I told her the point is that you have to make the race manageable. Training is harder. What you do is break up the race into pieces that you can manage. It's a battle with your mind.

She told me that as a senior, she finds this all a challenge. I told her it is a challenge, but if she can do the training, she can do the race. She began to get what I was saying and at the end of our talk, she told me she was meant to come to the store to get her shoes and talk to me. She asked if she could come back and talk to me some more before her marathon. I told her I would be happy to talk to her any time.

Sometimes we just need someone to encourage us.

Charlie