It’s a wrap!!! #RunLove 6-week challenge spells VICTORY!!!
Except for being awesome friends and co-workers, one might not think that Alex and I paired well for the run love challenge.
She is young enough to be my daughter and that is not birthing her in high school, but at an age that my parents would not ground me for life. She is WAY beyond me in her sheer beast mode and ability to do things like:
*Alex had a goal to run 6 days a week.
Mine was simply to re-establish a routine, conquer the clock and run 3 days with a little cross training;
*run a 15K in an hour and smile pretty for the camera along the way;
*and then a week later decide to run a 50K with minimal preparation and reign victoriously as the female winner and 3rd place overall winner.
The match worked so well because she could rekindle my passion for running and I was able to….well, I am not sure EXACTLY what I was able to do…but she was always so gracious and made me feel like I was contributing to her success.
Oh my gosh I am inspired and thrilled and really honored that she joined me for the 6-week challenge. It really was such a little thing…one of our vendors, Oiselle, threw out some ideas. Some we did. Some we modified. Some we skipped. The point is that we were checking in on each other every couple of days to see how we were doing. Not just with running, but other goals as well. I can’t begin to explain what a difference that made for me.
Six weeks is over. We both accomplished the goals we wanted. We still plan to check in with each other in the same manner, but would love to see the challenge expand. We want to incorporate the run love challenge into our community. Looking for those with an interest….I will personally need someone to hold me accountable so I can train and rock the new 2XU Tri-Kit coming next month!!!
~Cherie
Accountability is a beautiful and challenging thing. It demands you to show up, even when you don’t want to. When you get a text at 6:30am stating “I beat the clock and got my swim in!“, it’s not only hard to talk yourself out of your workout for the day but you all of a sudden WANT to meet their success.
Cherie’s Goal– Run the Double Bridge Run 15k in 1 hour and 10 minutes— CHECK!
Alex’s Goal– Run the Double Bridge Run 15k in less than 1 hour and 3 minutes— CHECK!
If you have the pleasure of knowing Cherie, you have experienced her kind soul and pure, natural talent and strength. However, you would never know it until you were breathless beside her as she was still joyfully talking and looking effortless. The definition of humble and selfless, two characteristics I am in constant “Awe” of.
As she said, we are in different seasons of life. She has a family to care for plus business ownership. I can schedule my training much easier than she can and I couldn’t ask for a better partner for this challenge. She talks the talk and more importantly walks the walk.
Sometimes you need someone to tell you to just “Embrace the suck!”, and then offer you a cup of the best coffee in the world.
I was really excited and focused on my end goal for the 6-weeks but I realized that the more the challenge went on, I was getting so much more from the daily successes. Hearing of Cherie accomplishing her own goal for the day made me SO happy and motivated to work hard because I know she was, too.
The success we had in reaching our pre-set goals was very gratifying but the camaraderie is what I’ve viewed as the true treasure.
We are now onto new endeavors; an “Off-Road” Triathlon for Cherie, a marathon for myself and LIFE for us both.
People, get yourself a #Run/Life Love partner and GOOD things will happen.
<3 Alex
