You’ve gotta have heart

~ Chocolaterunsjudy
heart
You’ve gotta have heart

 

You could be the most talented runner out there, and if you don’t have heart, you most likely will never reach your full potential.

And by heart, I mean:

  • Always trying your best
  • Not always focusing on the outcome
  • Being kind to those less talented than yourself
  • Keep trying despite setbacks

Talent will only get you so far, but heart will help you soar to goals you never even imagined.

I particularly like the quote above. It’s so easy to get caught up in striving to be better, to earn PRs, to place in your age group. We forget that, as the saying goes, a journey of a thousand miles starts with just one step, or in runner speak: a marathon is hundreds of miles; the finish is the last 26.2.

We forget if we don’t train with our heart throughout all our training — the warm ups, the cool downs, the exercises we know we should be doing but don’t, the runs we really don’t like — we are much less likely to be successful.

It’s the journey, not the destination. I need to remind myself of that more often!

Whereever you go, go with all your heart.
— Conficius

 

Deb Runs
I’m linking up with Deb’s Wednesday Word — click through and read what others bloggers have to say about heart. It’s always fascinating how everyone has a different take on it!

What comes to mind when you see the word “heart”?

32 thoughts on “You’ve gotta have heart”

    1. Hmmm. I still do have regrets. I regret I didn’t find running earlier, although I also wonder if I’d still be running if I had.

      I regret that I didn’t find a healthy way of eating that was sustainable long before my 50s!

      I regret not traveling more with Chester, although we did take some trips.

      I do think it’s pretty impossible not to have regrets in life, but I guess the secret is not to dwell on them and to keep moving forward and learn from our mistakes!

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  6. This is a good reminder. I got hurt last September and I was only three weeks out from the Chicago Marathon. It was a huge setback! I turned my ankle while mountain biking, so I knew right away that I wasn’t going to run. It was incredibly demoralizing and was a huge set back. I actually had a hard time coming back to running at all. I think it gave me a good lesson in loving running and not loving the outcome or the goal… cause sometimes the outcome isn’t the one you wanted. Thanks for the post!

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  9. We totally agree (Read my post.)

    I do put my heart into things I love – it used to be tennis now it’s running. Housework & cooking – not so much.

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    1. It’s been a while since I belonged to a gym. Whenever I see anyone heavy working out, I almost always silently and sometimes out loud try to encourage them!

      Although of course sometimes they won’t meet your eyes, but I understand that, too; I’ve been there.

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  12. That is a great quote! Also a good reminder that running isn’t just the time we’re out there pounding the pavement, but all the little things too: rest, recovery, eating healthy. Our heart needs to be in those to be a well rounded athlete as well!

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  14. When I sat down to write my post, I had the same title as you and planned to go in this direction. Then i switched things up entirely and wrote about National Heart Month. Just another thing I love about Wednesday Word – how many different directions we can take a word! 🙂

    Thanks for linking up!

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  15. Oh, I agree Judy! I thought one of the synonyms that nailed it for me was enthusiasm. If you don’t run with that…then what’s the point? And–you know, sometimes those journeys are so much longer than we anticipate!

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  17. I wholeheartedly agree with you! <— see what I did there 🙂 You can have all the talent in the world, but it will only get you so far if your heart is not in it. I also think people who have a big heart and passion for what they are doing can achieve so much, even if they are not the most talented.

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