Hi guys! Thanks for hopping on the blog today, I’m glad you are here. I hope you all have been taking in the holiday season wherever you are. Here in Minnesota, the snow has started falling and I feel like winter has finally arrived. With the fresh snow has also come pulling out my shoe cleats for my morning runs. Winter happens to be my favorite time to run outdoors because it’s so peaceful. There is so much beauty all around and it’s been a nice way to have quiet time and reflect.

Beauty is all around

Speaking of running, I had the craziest accident happen a few weeks ago. I was on my usual route about a mile and a half in on my run, and out of no where, I found myself laying on the road after a huge WIPE OUT! My shoe somehow hit an uneven crack in the road and I went down, taking a pretty hard fall. I managed to rip a big hole in my leggings, gashed both knees and hands. After I collected myself, I looked around to assess the damage to my body. At the same time, a car ahead had seen my fall and pulled over to see if I was okay. Who knew running could be so dangerous! LOL. I was grateful to be okay minus some bleeding and wrecked clothes. I was a bit shaken up, sitting on the pavement thinking to myself, how it had been a hard week and now I’m down on the side of the road – seriously! It was in that moment, I sat there thinking, do I get up, finish the run I set out to do, or quit and walk back home? I decided to get up, finish the run, and pace myself back home.

Pacing instead of quitting

I find exercise to be such a therapeutic way to clear your mind and soul, especially on the hard days. We live in a world that is so instant with everything at our finger tips – making it hard to be patient with where we are, in what we are doing and where we are headed. When I took the fall, it was a moment of, okay, this was not the plan for the run today, to literally hit a bump in the road. I sat on the side of road, thinking how this is such a metaphor for life. The accident reminded me that where we are going is not always a straight line – there are bumps in the road and life gets hard sometimes. Despite all that, if there is one thing I know to be true, it’s that persistence clears the way.

Persistence clears the way

Here is the crack where I fell!

I’m out running that same loop again today and every time I see that crack in the road where I fell, it reminds me to show up, stay the course and keep going. For anyone going through a tough season right now, I encourage the same for you – that you are able to see the beauty all around, that you remember pacing is better than quitting, and most of all that persistence clears the way.

-Natalie

Looking for some extra encouragement on your next run? Check out this podcast, from the Dream Big Podcast with Bob Goff and Friends: Crazy Faith – Michael Todd. It was a great listen – enjoy!

(Looking for more life posts? Check out Five Things)