Miles of Motivation: Mile 18

I've been trying for weeks to run my best mile ever. Every day, I tried to prepare myself mentally for my run. I would listen to Nicki Minaj music to pump me. I would smile at complete strangers. I would stretch out my muscles. I would focus on speed, not distance.

But every day until now, I let my mind defeat my body. I would tell myself I needed a 30 second walking break- which would sometimes turn into a 60 second walking break.

But this time? I said SCREW IT. No walking breaks. Bust your butt. The faster you go, the faster you finish.
It also helped that I had a pretty bad day. After venting about life, my friend Chad told me, "Sounds like it's time for a sub-10 minute mile."

He was right. And I wasn't going to prove him wrong. More importantly, I wasn't going to prove myself wrong...(THANK YOU for the motivation and support, Chad!)

I put on my bright orange shirt with white lettering and my black running pants. ExactTarget colors. Tonight I knew just who I would run my best mile ever for, Meggie Dials.

Mile 18 was for one of the most inspiring friends, runner and blogger I know- Meggie Dials (who works at ExactTarget- hence the color section for my workout clothes).

Meggie in the Middle.

I can't even explain in enough words how much I love Meggie. She is the most uplifting, postive, beautiful, inspiring, loving and compassionate person I know. She makes me laugh. She makes me want to become a better runner. She makes me want to grow professionally. She makes me want to become a better person. She makes me want to wear adorable peacock earrings (see above picture). And she makes the MOST amazing cake balls I've ever had...so addicting.

Tonight, when I was running mile 18, I pictured Meggie next to me. Pushing me along. Telling me to keep going. No walking breaks. Don't give up. Encouraging me to remember my goals. I was reflecting on her blog posts and hearing her voice in my head, especially the pep talk she gave me over the weekend.

When I was hugging her goodbye on Saturday night, she gave me a giant hug. She said, "This is our year, Ash. 2012 is our year."


Pretty soon, I was 8:45 minutes into my run, so I jacked up my speed to 7.4. I finished hard remembering Meggie's kind words and inspiration.


And sure enough, the Meggie self-talk worked!!


I ran the fastest mile of my life!!!

Even Nicki Minaj would be proud of this pace! #superbass

It was hard. I was holding onto the sides of the treadmill at some points of my run...but I didn't stop. I didn't take a walking break...I just kept on running like Meggie.

Thank you, Meggie. For being YOU! Seriously, everyday just wake up and be yourself.

This really will be our year.

80 miles to go!

Much love,
Ashley