I went to church this morning (Yes a few people will be shocked by this but stick with me here) with Heidi. It was not the first time it has happened, it probably also will not be the last, and suprisingly I left this morning feeling like someone had been reading my mind. They talked about “Being in a Team” and how we all have someone (aka God) to back us up as we will all be tempted to quit. The person giving the sermon was actually really good and even gave a good example, one that really struck home. He talked about training for a half marathon. Hello!!

The temptation to quit runs through my head quite a lot, it is something I deal with on a daily basis. I look at things like the during the weight loss period (something I have been struggling with still lately) where I had others to support me, guide me, to keep me going and I felt that if i quit, I wasn’t just letting myself down, I was letting others down. To be honest, up until now, I didn’t really feel that way over here. I have felt alone, I have felt that things every day in life (work etc) are mine and mine alone. Though I have friends over here, I had not really realised just how much of an impact they have on your life. It really hit home this morning when I heard about not wanting to give into that temptation to quit, to keep going, to strive and in those times of struggle when we really need help, to look to those around us for help.

Yesterday I was back on Burke Gilman for my 13km training run. It was cold, I was tired and the rain kept away until the last kilometre. All the things that when combined (Worse if it was raining the whole time) create a perfect storm of quitting, or as you hear me refer to it as “copping out”. I could have made excuses, I could have said “I will do it tomorrow” but instead I sucked it up and kept going. The only person I am letting down is myself, but can I live with myself when I want to cop out. I know my friends would have understood me, but would I be happy with myself. Could I look at my friends and family in the same way and feel the same if I told them I had quit? I know that the sermon talked about support from those people, but could I let them down? Could I let myself down?

I ran the 13km in a fairly good time, within what I had expected. I am aiming for 2.5 hours for my Half Marathon time and although that is fairly slow, that’s what I want to do to make sure I don’t walk away with an injury. That little fact kept me going during the run. Yes I had some pain but I had to be smart. The training now and the pain now mean that time after my run won’t be so bad later. I kept pushing myself, every step of the way, during the run. I had to keep telling myself why I was doing it, why I shouldn’t quit. What was my answer?

The look on my friends and families face as I cross that line or I pass them during the race, for them to see that I can do the things I set my mind to, that although I may want to quit. Doing so is not in my interest, because I do it for them as well.