Believe in YOU, sista!

I am a lucky girl.  I've got good friends all over the place and each one of them hold something near and dear to my heart.  I truly feel God did not give me sisters so I would cherish and love my girl friends as if they were sisters. 
One of these "sisters" I met just a few short years ago.  The local YMCA had opened and like me, she was traipsing her preschooler around the gym to check it out.  We probably exchanged a brief smile and a hello and then went about our thing.  Pretty quickly, our little boys became the best of buddies in the Tot Watch at the gym, introducing their mommies to each other as we breezed in and out to pick them up. 
At some point, Sara and I were side by side on a treadmill when she asked me what the furthest I had ever run.  I told her a 5K, and all I ever ran on the treadmill was 4 miles.  Rarely did I even run outside. She countered, "Have you ever tried to run more?" I told her, "Nope. And don't really think I could do so, nor do I want to". Then she asked me on our first "date", doing a 6 mile run with her.  6 miles????  I thought I would DIE.  And, could I even keep up with this skinny little thing who has ran countless races, including 5Ks, half marathons and...GULP...a marathon?
But she believed in me.  So I believed her.  And I did it. 
Then she asked me to do a triathlon with her.  After that, would I run a half marathon with her in the Fall? And all throughout the training, when I didn't believe I could endure that swim in Lake Geneva, or I could do that 11 mile training run, she believed in me.  So believed her.  And I did it.
If it weren't for all this believing, I'd probably be clocking my usual 3 miles on the treadmill, not pushing myself beyond what I thought was possible.  I wouldn't be able to motivate other women through this blog or my running classes to get out of their comfort zone and go for their goals.
So now Sara, it is time for me to believe in you.  You have an awesome goal set out for yourself this Sunday at the Rock and Roll 1/2 marathon in Chicago.  And I KNOW you can do it, there is not a shadow of doubt in my mind.  So get out of your head, take it steady, and have fun.  Take all that belief that you had in me and the other girls and put it all into yourself.  And no matter the outcome, I admire you for setting your sights, getting out there and just trying.  We all believe in you sista!  GOOD LUCK!!!

PS.  I think a boatload of post-race Oberons are in order when you get home!!!