So, just a quick post tonight as it is late, and I took both dogs running today. I am a bit sore and could use some ibuprofen and a good night's sleep. It's a good sore, but running with a Weimeraner/Vizsla mix dog is asking for a quick run. He would have gone faster if I let him.
Anyway, back to the name of the blog. Where did it come from? Well, anyone who knows me currently knows that I am not exactly what people think of when they think "runner." I have a few extra pounds on me (umm, about 65 lbs. more than when I came out of Basic Training 10+ years ago), and I am definitely not a skinny, svelte running type. But, I still run. I actually tend to surprise some people with my ability to move, even sprint at times (I think the people I flew by at the Holiday Half Marathon in the last 400 meters were quite surprised to see someone my size fly by as fast as I did). I won't ever be the runner I was in high school (imagine 120 lbs., skinny, and able to run a sub 5 minute mile). I have too many injuries that are going to keep me from doing that, but that won't keep me from running. I still love it. I enjoy getting out and just running. I enjoy taking part in team relays. I love what I do. That being said, I still take people by surprise because they aren't usually expecting what I can do. The best example of this was back in 2006 when I deployed to Afghanistan. I was not quite as big as I am now (I think I was around 190 at the time), but still bigger than I wanted to be. We were in Camp Shelby, Mississippi doing physical training as a company. We happened to be doing wind sprints, and I came up against my company commander, a much more slender guy who seemed to think he was rather fast. . . . until I blew by him at a high rate of speed. His comment and nickname has kind of stuck in the back of my head ever since. As I flew by him, and we got to the end, he quipped "Doughboy can run!"
So, thanks to Captain Fernandez (I am sure probably Major or higher by now), I will ever have that image in my head. I hope to not always LOOK like the Pillsbury doughboy, but the nickname is always a reminder that I have more I can do, farther I can go, and harder I can try to improve myself. I know he didn't mean it as a mean statement, but even if he did, it is the ability to take a statement like that, turn it around and use it as a source of motivation. Are you a "Chubby" or "slow-poke" or "wimpy?" Is there something people whisper about you behind your back? If there is, take that, make it your own, and turn it into the motivation to go out and prove them wrong, to get better, to go farther. For me, it gets me out pounding pavement, finding a trail to run, finding a race to run, finding a team to join.
The moral: People will say mean things, intentionally or unintentionally. The best things to do with those statements are 1) be honest with yourself (I AM a bit of a Dough boy, not proud of it, but it's the truth), and 2) use it to motivate you to improve yourself (I don't ALWAYS want to be a Dough boy, so what do I do about it to change that. . . ).
Well, so much for a quick post. I hope that, if you have read this far, and you come back here every-so-often, that my blogs about running and motivation, or whatever strikes my fancy at the time, can always help encourage you to reach new heights, to always continue trying. It isn't about being skinny, being the best, being fast. It is about always striving to be better than you currently are. It is always pushing to find something more you can do to improve. Get out there and run!
No comments:
Post a Comment