Run The Mile You're In

There are many things that I'm learning as I run. One of them came from an online running friend who was encouraging me in my apprehension about running the full 13 miles for the Half-Marathon in February. Somehow the whole 13 thing has me kinda nervous.

The advice given to me today was "run the mile you are in". I had to think about that for a moment and then it hit me how simple and profound this was and so applicable to life.

You see when I start to run, I envision the whole course from beginning to end and try to see myself ending the race. Many times I get discouraged about midway through because I've lost the vision of what the finish will look like. However, I tried this advice today and only focused on the mile that I was in at the moment and not the conclusion.

Immediately I relaxed and ran a faster pace that I did Saturday at the 10K. But the larger lesson was that we should relax and run the mile that we're in each and every day of our lives. We get so far ahead of ourselves that I'm certain that we psyche ourselves out of much of our productivity in life. And face it, life is getting faster and faster. This is just one way to enjoy and savor every moment.

So--just some wisdom from the streets. How are you "running the mile you are in" right now?