Ryan Ploeckelman co-hosts Ryan and Gretchen in the Morning on Q108

When I started running about four years ago I really thought that the farthest I would ever run was a 5k. I trained for that distance because I wanted to do a Sprint Triathlon and that was the distance you had to run at the end.

I got to the point in my training when I could comfortably run 3.1 miles and decided to keep going a little further. Five miles soon turned to ten miles, and it was around that time that Clarksville had its inaugural Go Commando Half Marathon. I decided to give that distance a try.

After that race was completed I wanted to keep going further and further from marathon to 50k to 50 miler. Then one day my running buddy, Travis Esterby, who likes to run 100 milers, told me that I needed to do one of those. That was way out of my comfort zone. I barely survived 50 miles, how was I going to double that? Long story short, I listened to Travis and did something that I thought was impossible and never would have thought I could have achieved when I started running.

I say all that because I think it is important to push yourself and get out of your comfort zone. If you think you can run a 5k, sign up for a 10k. If you think you can run a Half Marathon, run a Marathon. If you think you can run a marathon go for an Ultra. Push yourself and you will be surprised at the amazing things you can accomplish.

It is cliché to say the bigger the risk, the bigger the reward. I have found that to be true when it comes to my running. I cannot begin to describe what if feels like to finish running 100 miles. It is such an amazing high and sense of accomplishment. You feel if you can do that, you can do anything in life. I am not saying that everyone should run 100 miles; save that for the crazy people. But I am saying that pushing yourself to go further than you once thought possible is something that I believe is worth it.

So in closing I am going to do what my buddy Travis did to me for you. “I think you should do a _________.” Fill in the blank with something that you think is impossible, then go sign up for a race.

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