IF IT WERE EASY…

Before I found CrossFit, I was a long distance runner. The longer the run, the better. I would actually feel giddy when I signed up for a marathon in anticipation of all the long runs in my future. Crazy, I know. I can’t even fathom running a marathon right now.

I wasn’t always a runner. In fact, I started running to lose weight and literally could not make it to the stop sign at the corner when I started. But each day I made myself run a little further. And then a little further. And then one day- Bam! I loved running. It became easier. Even after starting CrossFit, I still ran a long run at least once a week.

But something happened when I moved to Auburn over three years ago. HILLS. Hills happened. I don’t know why they call Auburn the “Loveliest Village on the Plains” because it should be called the “Loveliest Village with Some Big Friggin’ Hills.” When you come from flat-as-a-pancake Albany, Georgia, you aren’t used to running hills. So I stopped running unless it was in my CrossFit workout (and even then- hills!). It was just too hard.

This summer, I decided to start running again. Because those hot and steamy summer months are the PERFECT time to take up running. It was hard. Really hard. But this time I was determined. I ran. I walked. I complained. I suffered. I was slow as Christmas. And then one day- Bam! I loved running again. The hills became easier (though I am still slow as Christmas).

And what I realized is that I had been expecting the ability to run to be handed to me. It was something I was good at at one point in my life so I thought I should automatically be good at it again. What I had forgotten is that sometimes you have to WORK for something. You have to put in the time, the effort, the training, the practice.

We live in a world of instant gratification.

Need to know what year Whoomp! (There It Is) was released? You can pick up your phone and find out almost instantly.

Want to watch Ferris Bueller’s Day Off? You can pull it up on Apple TV in seconds.

Want a 5-lb. bag of almond meal? It can be on your doorstep in one day.

Want to lose weight? You can go to a medical weight loss center and lose a ridiculous amount in a ridiculous amount of time.

WE. WANT. IT. NOW.

But you know what? The NOW can take away the anticipation, the gratification, and the appreciation in achieving a goal. And this is something I think our society is forgetting. I see it at my gym. Somebody wants something- let’s say a muscle-up- and even thinks he is deserving of a muscle-up. But is he willing to work towards that muscle-up? To put in the extra time and practice it may take to achieve one? Nope.

I am going to be participating in a Super Spartan Race in two weeks. That’s 8 to 10 miles of running with a bunch of obstacles mixed in. I am praying it will lean more towards the 8 miles. I have been training two months for it. Running. Climbing ropes. Strict pull-ups. More running. Farmer carries. Sled pulls. Running with awkward objects. Scaling walls. Burpees (how could I forget the burpees?!).

You want to know how I am going to feel when I cross that finish line? Proud. Deserving. Appreciative. Because it won’t be handed to me. I will have had to work for it.

P.S. Whoomp! (There It Is) was released in 1993.