Greetings my MAD COOL FITNESS CREW! Monday has once again rolled around and today I want to share with you a very special Motivational Monday story. One of our CREW members, Alisha finished her first half marathon, the Brooklyn Half Marathon this past Saturday!!!
YAY ALISHA!
Now completing a half marathon for anyone is quite the accomplishment. It is a 13.1 mile grueling you-vs-you, love, hate, love, can I do this??? who’s dumb A$$ idea was this anyway journey and then…VICTORY! For Alisha this is an especially GREAT accomplishment.
18 months ago in the summer of 2012, Alisha was part of the first MAD COOL Run/Walk CREW I started in Harlem. We trained for the Percy Sutton 5K race. Alisha had never run before and was determined to not only finish this race, but had set her sights on running a half marathon today. During a training session, Alisha felt a little light-headed. I pulled her inside to get some water and rest. In addition to the heat being a factor, we also discovered the culprit of she hadn’t eaten anything since the day before!
Taking a break from training yielded a wonderful opportunity for us to have a little impromptu chat about, Alisha, her goals, who she was, what health meant to her, and why she was doing this race. It also yielded her statement to me, and to the universe, that she “wanted to run a half marathon one day”. Well that one day was Saturday, May 17th, 2014.
Her journey started with that 5K, progressed to the Bronx 10mile race, and hit the milestone (just the beginning, not the end!) of the Brooklyn Half Marathon.
Check out Alisha’s Story
The Beginning 5K Training
The Finish 5K Race
The Bronx 10mile
So to all of you, my MAD COOL PEEPS, I say look at Alisha. She is an example of what can happen, the goals you can achieve, the great health and empowerment you can feel, when you have vision about who you are and the person you want to be.
From Alisha, “Thank you for instilling something in me that I will ALWAYS remember…that I CAN do anything!! Attached are pictures of me and my medal!”
Thank YOU Alisha. If I played one small, small role in “activating” your inherent ability to achieve good health and sense of empowerment I am truly honored. YOU motivate me and are truly a motivation to others.
MAD COOL, GIRL, MAD COOL!!!
Jennifer and Your MAD COOL FITNESS CREW
