My Journey...My Game...My Passion...

First, I am thrilled to share my story with everyone and thank you to Joan for inviting me to share my story as this is my first post. My running journey started quite a few years ago when I wanted to do something for myself and show people my accomplishment. It started on New Year’s Eve and my resolution to finish a 5k in late March (Cincinnati Heart Mini). I decided to share with people my resolution because I figured if I told people what I was doing, then one I would hopefully have their support and second I have admitted aloud. Next, I signed up for the race because then I was monetarily invested in the race. Needless to say I completed the race and I was thrilled. The following year I decided I wanted to rerun the Cincinnati Heart Mini 5k race and try to beat my time and did I smash my time by 6 minutes!

As my journey continues (a few years later)I lost some of the passion I had for running and did not know why. I realized I did not have a support group and I did not have a goal in mind. At this point I decided to venture out and run a marathon (I have no clue what I was thinking, but I was dreaming big). I signed up for the Chicago Marathon and it was rough! I trained on my own, I was in a city I did not know, and my wife cheered me on from a few locations (which was great)! My whole goal was to finish the race and I did (about 5 hours). When I finished I thought I would never do something that stupid again; however, the following week I wanted to go out and run and work on beating my time. I started to train again (on my own, but I told a lot of people what I was doing, and I read a lot of books about marathon training) for the Cincinnati Flying Pig in May. When race day arrived I wanted to go down to the start and run for me and have a blast. I did! I also beat my time by an hour! I found my passion once again…I loved letting my mind wonder! I was getting into the best shape of my life and I LOVED to run, it was a release of energy and stress! I have continued to run over the years and I just ran this past May the Cincinnati Marathon once again and I am now working on qualifying for the Boston Marathon, which is hard.

I have found I am inspired each and every day by everyone! Each person has a passion for what they are doing on the elliptical, walking, running, spinning, or whatever your game may be! I love it. Without the support and passion from everyone around goals cannot be met! #TEMT has opened a new door of motivation for me as I move into my journey of running…I love it (people all over the world/country inspiring me). I know my goal of qualifying for Boston is different from others, but every goal is important and meeting your goals is an accomplishment from walking a mile to running a marathon or a triathlon. I love the stories and look forward to motivating others as you all motivate me!

~Joe (@jrsteach)