I have some exciting news to share with you all… I ran my longest distance EVER yesterday morning—11.41 miles, to be exact. WOO HOO!

Is it just me, or does the little running man look like he’s about to face plant?

I only have four more weeks until my first half-marathon! Can you believe it? If you would have told me I’d be training for a half-marathon a year ago, I probably would have laughed obnoxiously in your face. I mean, this is a girl whose running experience consisted of a year of middle school cross-country until last fall, when I started to train for the Hope Express. Was I physically active before that? Yes. Was I a runner? No.

Sunday’s run was rough. Not only was it longer than anything I’ve done before, but it consisted of three pretty monstrous hills. Luckily, the first one was the hardest, when I still had the most energy. I kid you not, I was probably running uphill for five minutes straight. That might not seem like much, but give it a try before you roll your eyes!

I’ll admit, my legs (especially my calves and my booty!) were begging me to walk throughout my two-hour trek. My brain, however, meant business and told my legs to zip it—sometimes kindly, sometimes… Colorfully.

This run definitely proved to me how important it is to believe in your abilities. Sure, I’ve been training for more than a month now, but that’s only half the battle. Being mentally tough and shutting up the whining voices in my head (Please don’t make me run anymore, please!) is the other half—the more difficult half.

At one point or another, we’re all challenged to do something we don’t think we’re capable of doing. The trick to succeeding, however, isn’t physical. It’s mental. We’ve all heard how important it is to “believe in yourself,” but it’s true! It doesn’t matter how hard you train or how much you practice—if you don’t think you can do something, you can’t. It’s that simple.

So, next time you have to do something that seems so impossible you want to quit before you even start, remind yourself of how [insert super positive adjective here] you are! Tell the Debbie Downers that live in your head to take a hike, focus on how much more awesome you’re going to be after you accomplish this impossible task, and get to it!

What’s the most difficult thing you’ve ever had to do? How did you get through it?