The Courage To Start.

We are officially in 2021. After what appeared to be the longest year in history in 2020, if you are reading this now, you can say “I made it.”

While I personally have never been a fan of New Year’s Resolutions and in fact, I pretty much go out of my way to ensure that I do not get sucked into the tradition of writing any down, I will say that about three weeks prior to the start of the year, I held a firm resolve of what I wanted 2021 to look like for me. The start of the new year ushered in some pretty major milestones for me. It marked the one year anniversary of my business and my tenth year involved in the sport that has become such a major part of my life.

I’m calling it: 2021 is a big deal.

I considered all of the elements as as runner that I am committed to developing and improving this year. I cringe as I think about some of the eating habits I acquired last year and decided that would be the first place to start. I am currently in day nine of my twenty-one day Daniel fast and hello! I am still alive.

For the first time in my four years of being a competitive long distance runner, this is the year I have committed to working on my race times and paces. I realized that as I enrolled for new race locations and race distances, so much of my focus was on completing the race injury free. Don’t get me wrong, that is an accomplishment that I still hold in the highest regard. But I realized that this mindset along with spending the last twelve months pouring into Run Naturally left little room to hone my own craft. So I began the year cutting away time for solo runs where I can coach and push myself.

As I began to focus on what I wanted Run Naturally to look like in 2021, I soon realized that this was a big year for others around me. This year ushered in the advent of Run Naturally’s 21 Day Challenge – and with that came the hopes, dreams and aspirations of a new batch of runners. It is such a humbling reminder of my “why.” I hit the ground running with that challenge using the same resolve I do when I am pounding the Cable Beach strip on my tempo runs or driving my legs uphill in Tropical Gardens. Anxious at first and then overcome with pride and accomplishment when I hit my mark.

When I sit and think of my personal run goals, my business goals and the goals of my customers, one common theme exists: the courage to start.

The courage to start resides in that moment you sign up for your first run session. It resides in the moment you decide to lace up your kicks and go. It is housed in the moment you register for your first race. It is amplified in moment you hit the start button on your GPS tracker. It is personified in the moment you tow the start line on race morning. The courage to start is everything because every thing you hope to accomplish rests in that moment. There is no finish line without the start line.

Feel the fear. Be courageous.

Start.