As November comes to an end, I realized that I haven't ran a 5K this year, as my goal is each year. The days are getting shorter and colder, and the year is just about over. Yes, I walked to Teaneck from the Upper West Side, and yes, that was 13+ miles... but that had nothing to do with my goal. My goal is to complete a 5k distance each calendar year.
Last night, I was in the car thinking of all the reasons last night would be a terrible night to complete my goal: I messed up my ankle last week, I have a bad cough, it's dark, it's late, it's cold, I'm too lazy, I'm too tired, and the list goes on and on... I realized that I can come up with 100 excuses every single day for why I cannot complete the 5k, but more importantly, I have one very big reason TO complete it-- I can. So last night, I wrapped my bad ankle, put on my sneakers and ran in the 45 degree night from my apartment to 73rd and broadway and back to my apartment-- 3.42 miles. Yes, I coughed most of the way and had to walk as I wheezed, and yes my ankle swelled up to new sizes when I got home... but none of that mattered. I did it!
There will always be 100 reasons not to do something, but it is the most important thing to find the one reason to drive you to run in the cold with a messed up ankle, and a chest situation because at the end of the day, I completed my 2015 5k. This is probably what that Pirkei Avot* was talking about...
* Pirkei Avot (Hebrew: פרקי אבות) (also Pirkei Avoth or Pirkei Avos), which translates to English as Chapters of the Fathers, is a compilation of the ethical teachings and maxims of the Rabbis of the Mishnaic period.
