There has been a recurring them in my life lately, and it looks a lot like a road-weary pair of old Nikes. I bought these shoes about 5 years ago, not too long after I started running 10k races for fun. I bought them, in all honesty, because they were beautiful, vibrant, and most importantly, on sale. And then I discovered that the Nike Free 5.0 is the best shoe I could ever dream of (except totally not on a spin bike – ouch!) and I vowed till death do us part to this precious pair of shoes that not only felt like soft clouds of cotton candy on my feet, but also breathed fresh cool air on my usually-overheated feet.
These shoes have clocked a lot of miles… they’ve traveled Disney World for 12 days with 4 kids. They’ve carried me safely across asphalt, concrete, and gravel. I have loved them deeply. These shoes don’t look beautiful and vibrant anymore, they are scuffed, stained, and they’ve even shrunk a little. You see, in 2015 I did this little thing called Tough Mudder (yup, it’s as crazy as it sounds) in nearby Drumheller. Tough Mudder is a 16-km obstacle course in the mud, and as you can imagine, it did a number on my Nike Free 5.0s. Only this wasn’t just any Tough Mudder, it was 7°C (44.6°F) and raining. I have never done anything so difficult in my life. I’m actually pretty sure giving birth to a 10 lb baby after 20 hours of labour was slightly less difficult than this.
But I showed up. And I did it.
And I don’t know if you get where I’m going with this, but Nike’s slogan? JUST DO IT. Sometimes (a lot of times actually), life is really really hard. And sometimes you might not feel like you can do it. Like it is the hardest thing you have ever been asked to do. Sometimes just putting one foot in front of the other will almost do you in. And you don’t feel inspired or motivated or whatever other crap we’re constantly fed. You’re not always going to be feeling it. But I promise you, if you show up, take that first step, push through that first mental block, you can just do it too. You might not look as shiny & new on the other side, but you will feel like a rockstar. And that voice you hear cheering you on from the sidelines – that’s me supporting you with all that I have in me.
The Nikes today:
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