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Progress Looks Different For Each Of Us
Growth comes in different forms.
A few weeks ago, I withdrew from a marathon. And I’m so proud of myself for it. Let me give you some context here. Two weeks before the marathon, I woke up with a bit of a niggle in my left foot. My cat had slept on my foot throughout the night, putting it at a weird angle. Nevertheless, I went for my planned 13k morning run.
I felt pretty good as I started, but as the run progressed, so too did the pain in my foot. What had felt like a tiny glitch when I left home turned into a full-blown injury in the last few kilometers before I got home. I hobbled around for the next two days. Not wanting to be excluded from my upcoming marathon, but also not wanting to lose my hard-won fitness, I took my training into the gym. I was careful not to do anything that would hurt it more or exacerbate the injury.
When marathon day rolled around, I felt uncertain about it. My foot felt better than two weeks ago, but was it healed? No, far from it. Nevertheless, I completed my pre-race preparation and found my way to my spot in the starting line-up. I had spent a year dreaming and talking about this race, months preparing for it. I wasn’t prepared to give up on it easily.
Things started well, but as the race progressed, the pain kept increasing. By kilometer eight…
