Dreams are a funny thing. They can be scary. They can be great. They can leave you questioning what you ate the night before that made you dream about Ronald McDonald skateboarding on the Great Wall of China singing "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls while drinking coffee out of a mason jar....don't ask....but the point is dreams are personal and can sometimes be amazing.
While driving through town yesterday I saw a license plate with the words "DREMB1G". Being an English major in college the first thing I thought was, "Ugh!! I hate when people spell things incorrectly". Yes, that's where my brain went first. Not the message of the plate, but the fact that it was spelled wrong. After I got over the limitations of getting a message across on a license plate in 7 characters I got to thinking about dreams.
We hear the phrase "Dream Big" all of the time, which I'm pretty sure is an Oprah phrase, but how much of our time is actually spent focusing on our dreams? Being that this is a running related blog I will focus solely on the aspect of dreaming as it relates to running. Running dreams can be vast or they can be small. Many people will dream of the day when they hear the roar of the crowd through the Wellesley Scream Tunnel as they make their way to the blue and gold finish line of the Boston Marathon. Many will dream of the day when they are able to check the box on their bucket list of running a Marathon or a Half Marathon. Many will dream of winning a race. Many will dream of the day when they run their first 5k, but what happens when that day comes? Do you stop dreaming?
I, like the person driving around with the incorrectly spelled license, like to dream big. A lot of people don't understand my dreams. My dream will never be to run the Boston Marathon. It doesn't appeal to me. My dream will never be to run a 18 minute 5k. I'm not fast. Not that I don't think that I am capable of running the Boston Marathon or an 18 minute 5k, my dreams are to help inspire others to not just "Dream Big" but "Dream Huge". With running, I primarily have two goals:
- To inspire people to be better than their current self
- Run a sub-24 hour Western States 100 miler
I have found that writing out my dreams and putting them in a place where they can be seen every day is one of the best ways for you to remind yourself why you lace up your shoes, layer up clothes on those winter mornings or get into the gym. Below is the scene at my desk. I have a picture of myself at over 300lbs and the elevation charts of three races that I want to run at some point in my life (along with a picture my daughter drew). I see these images every day. Every day when I sit down and look at these things, I remember why it is so important for me to talk about my own weight loss and why I get up at 4:00am to run. For now, these are my running dreams.
I am encouraging everyone today to document your dream. What is the thing that in your head you can envision yourself doing? Boston Marathon? Sub-3:00 marathon? Running your first half marathon? What is it? Don't be shy. Put it in to the comments below. No dream is too big or too small. Everyone has their dreams, what is yours?
Jot it down, then bookmark this blog. Set a reminder on your calendar to look at this in 30-60-90-120 days to see where you are on your road to your dream. Don't stop dreaming.....
Stay Strong, Run Long
Brad