Over the past few weeks and months I have found myself stepping out of my athletic comfort zone far more often. Trail running, swimming, signing up for a triathlon, clipping in a road bike, and pushing my pace are all things that have intimidated me to the point of resistance for years. I’ve cheered and supported my friends in these endeavors but never believed enough in myself to personally accomplish them.

Tonight, while pushing through my speed workout, I thought about what I would have done a year ago in this situation. After a long day in the office, I probably would have told myself I could do it next week and shirked off speed work for a few more minutes of work or a relaxing evening. In the back of my head, I didn’t think it was that important because I would be “fast." Now, a year later, the runners in my life are constantly pushing me whether during runs or training conversations, to get out of my comfort zone and focus on how strong I’ve become. These simple words and mantras are finally starting to register mentally and help me push down the negative thoughts.

In fact, I’ve evolved into a person I barely recognize sometimes and it is because of the people in my life. They aren’t all here in Geneva, in fact, many are social media friends that I have yet to meet in real life. But regardless of how they came into my life, I am blessed to have people who support and lift me up on a daily basis. On Monday night, as I prepared to swim a mere 100 meters in our swim meet, I was overcome with nerves so severe that I was on the verge of letting a co-worker take my place at the meet. Within minutes every single person on my team was surrounding me, telling me how strong and courageous I was for standing on the starting block, preparing to swim. They motivated and supported me until with only ten seconds left I turned, flashing them a smile, assuring them I would swim as fast as possible. To this day, I barely know some of their names since we spend most of our time with our heads in the water during our early morning practices.

But, tonight, I took the time to organize all my notecards and start writing thank you notes, one by one, to those incredible people in my life who lift me up daily. They will never know what an impact they’ve had on me these past few months during this time of change and adjustment.

Take the time tonight to think about who you surround yourself with each day. Do you have an opportunity to find more positive influences? Have you thanked someone in your life lately for helping motivate you to be the best person possible? 

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