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Have You Found Your Why?
Emily Riddle
My cousin is currently in the hospital in a medically induced coma. Several days ago he collapsed, unconscious, from a heart attack and never woke up.
Why do I mention this on a running blog? I do so because that could easily have been me. You see, I was blessed to be born into the Smith family, but with that came what we lovingly call the “Smith Family Gene Curse.” High cholesterol, heart disease, heart attacks, and bypass surgeries are all genetic gifts we’ve been given. I distinctly remember the first time my cholesterol was tested as a child. My brother looked at my number, looked at me and said, “Whoa! With cholesterol that high you should be dead right now!” My uncle, the father of the cousin mentioned above, died in his mid-thirties from a heart attack. My brother had a heart attack before he turned 40. My father had a heart attack despite having his cholesterol in the normal range after years of medication. I remember losing count of how many open heart surgeries my grandmother had. As far as I’m concerned, the question is not if I’ll have a heart attack, but when.
This is why I run. No excuses. I want to be able to say when the inevitable happens that I did everything I could possibly do to prevent it, that I took care of my body and cardiovascular system. I want to be strong inside and out.
“You need something that will get you out of bed when nothing else will, something that you can grasp onto so tightly that it will carry you through all the storms and help you achieve the seemingly impossible.”
My motivation for running has ebbed and flowed over the years. Sometimes it’s an upcoming race that gets me out of bed to work hard. Sometimes it’s not wanting to miss out on a run with my friends. But honestly, when you get down to the root of why I run, it’s because I am scared to stop. Every morning I miss makes it more likely that I won’t get out of bed the next morning as well.
We have repeatedly emphasized the importance of finding your why. You need something that will get you out of bed when nothing else will, something that you can grasp onto so tightly that it will carry you through all the storms and help you achieve the seemingly impossible.
Have you found your why? Have you found a motivation that will never desert you no matter what life throws your way, no matter which races are cancelled, no matter how many injuries you must fight? If not, I suggest you dig a little deeper and find it. Do a thought download and write down everything that comes to your mind about running. Find that why and hold onto it with everything you have. It might just turn out to be a lifesaver.
Is The Marathon Mind Right for You?
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