I Will Run with You in 2022
A partner to help you complete your running goals.
In the middle of 2021, a friend asked if I’d join them for 75 Hard, a strange and complicated wellness challenge. They were hoping for accountability and support as they setout to push themselves.
I have a rule when friends ask for help: Default to Yes.
Saying “no” is the norm. There are always good, reasonable justifications to decline invitations or requests. Unfortunately, if you say no enough, people stop asking. When people stop asking, cool opportunities start to evaporate. In the case of healthy friendships, I’ve found it much more rewarding to push myself toward “yes” instead.
So, I said yes. The experience was long, difficult, and inconvenient. I regularly questioned my choice. Many days, I wanted to quit. For better or worse, I have another rule about making commitments: do what you say. I was in it until the end.
I’m glad I did. It was wildly rewarding.
Later in the year, I ran my first marathon (26.2 miles). It was a personal challenge, separate from a friend’s invitation or convincing. It was part of my own goals. Because running a marathon was something I knew my dad wanted to do, I asked him to join me. Hundreds of training miles and 12 weeks later, we boarded a plane bound for Ancorage, Alaska. We spent a few days touring the breathtaking Alaskan outdoors, culminating in both of us finishing our first marathon.
Two months after, I ran my first ultra marathon (50 miles).
After each event, I received many congratulations from those who followed the adventures online. I also received messages from a surprising subset of people sharing some version of “I’ve always wanted to do that!”
The experiences were great, which I expected. What I didn’t expect was how much I enjoyed indirectly awakening something in others. Plenty of spectators weren’t provoked or perhaps quickly silenced their internal curiousity, but many people allowed my achievement to inch them a step closer to their own.
In 2022, I am doubling down and hoping to take a more active roll in helping others accomplish their running goals. If you want to set a new running milestone, I want to help. Running further or running faster, it’s your choice.
Do you have running goals you want to achieve?
Maybe you have always wanted to do something like this but didn’t have a friend to ask about it. Now you do.
Perhaps you’ve tried before but struggled to stick with it. Let’s try again.
Whether you need encouragement, accountability, support, or someone to bounce ideas off, make 2022 the year you get it done.
You are not alone.
- Half-Marathon? I’m in.
- Marathon? I’m in.
- Ultramarathon? I’m in.
- Break a personal speed record? I’m in.
If you want it, I will join you in whatever way you’d find helpful.
I’m not a coach or a personal trainer. I am not selling anything. Consider me an excitable friend who is eager to help. I’m extending my ‘default to yes’ attitude toward anyone hoping to cross a running goal off their bucket list this year.
Why? Why not!
In his late 50s, my dad ran his first marathon. It was a dream he lived with, incomplete, for over a decade. Days after completion, he realized it wasn’t merely about the doing a marathon. That single achievement was a doorway which unlocked entirely new hopes and aspirations.
It’s your turn.
2022 will be your year! I’m here to help.
If achieving your running goal is something you’d like to discuss, send me an email and let’s get started: morganjlopes@gmail.com
