The Mile Run

Today at Bootcamp, we did the mile run for time. It was a little foggy and still dark as I called out "3, 2, 1, Go!" Everyone took off and as they knocked out their four laps, I called out times and encouragement. As people began to finish, I noticed one of my athletes was starting her third lap. As a team, everyone joined and helped her finish the next two laps. This was Terri's first mile that she's ever completed. As we made those final rounds, Terri said she had started several bootcamps in the past, but never attended the second class. Congratulations on attending your second class! She said she had a friend helping keep her accountable, well now she has 14 friends keeping her accountable and with her every morning.
This conversation reminded  me of the first mile I ran in 5th grade at Highland Park Elementary, not too far from the Lamar MS track this morning. I was the last one to finish, around 20 minutes. I couldn't climb the rope in class either. I was embarrassed, but not enough to change my habits. I really enjoyed my Legos and Star Wars figures.

The day I was convinced to change my habits was in 7th grade, on a Boy Scout trip. Packed into the back seat of someone's minivan, the little kid next to me poked my leg and asked "why does your leg jiggle like that?" I can still feel my heart rate rise thinking about that.

The next year, I ran my first 10K over spring break, the Schlotsky's Bun Run. It hurt like hell. I recovered and ran a 5:15 mile a few weeks later, unsuccessfully trying to catch the female captain of our track team. I've since been an All American and All Army rugger. Ran my first half marathon in Baghdad after a full night of missions. And am now a Crossfit coach.

From this simple challenge of running one mile, I've come a long way. I am looking forward to challenging Terri and the rest of her class to achieve success together over the next six weeks!