"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone."

My mom gave me a "Quoteables" journal a few years back, and I have loved their stuff ever since. They sell magnets and cards at Whole Foods and Papyrus in the mall, and I always stop to browse. This quote, is one that recently caught my eye so I snagged a card and hung it in my room. Every day, I try and get out of my comfort zone. For those of you who know me well and know about my rituals and routines (OCD much?), know that this isn't always easy for me to do. I live a pretty redundant life. I like that I wake up naturally at 7:13 every day. I like that I always run on treadmill #20. I like sitting in the back pew at church on the left hand side. I try not to let my OCD get in the way of my every day life. I have recently realized that I would rather be in control than be controlled, and I don't really think that's a completely healthy way of thinking. This is why I push myself into the uncontrollable unknown from time to time. Sometimes it's small, sometimes it's big. Sometimes it's scary, and sometimes it's exciting.

For me, running is scary. I get nervous, I doubt myself, I make the whole thing a big mental roadblock. When I started running I could run for 30 seconds at a time, then I would have to walk. It was frustrating and intimidating. I worked up to 5 minutes at a time, then 15, then 30.. Somewhere between run/walking a 5k Thanksgiving 2009 and now, I have challenged my mind and body to push past comfort and go a little further. I notched down my mileage after my half marathon, and 6 miles has became my comfortable cap. Thanks to my marathon training program I have no exceeded that mileage twice. I spent my morning eating the worlds slowest breakfast, stretching, procrastinating, and dreading my run. But I got there, didn't think of quitting or not doing it as an option, and ran my 8 miles.

Week 3: complete