Recently I wrote an email called the "The Long Run" Which was about looking at goals through a long term lens. Yesterday I was finally able to reach one of my long run goals in weight lifting. I was finally able to hit the 500 lbs mark on the belt squat rack machine I have here in the gym. The goal of hitting the 500lbs mark was awesome and I am really proud to have finally completed it. What I am most proud of though is not the lift, but the journey that it took to get there. 

This journey took 9 long hard years of work. Along the way I suffered through a few devastating injuries. Two reconstructive ankle surgeries to the left ankle. Tearing the disc between my 4th and 5th vertebrae. Right elbow tendon surgery. Right thumb ligament and tendon surgery and then 9 surgeries to repair the bone damage caused by a tumor in my upper Jaw. I chose not to let any of these setbacks stop me. I looked at each set back as an opportunity to start over again and use the lessons I had learned along the way to get better and ultimately achieve my goal. 

This is what the Long Run is all about. It is so easy to pack things in when times get tough or if you have suffered through various set back. But for those of us who believe in the Long Run, there is no quitting. There is only, "Find Another Way". I have always said your goals need to be just as important to you as the things you value most in life. Your goals need to be a part of you no matter how long they take to accomplish. 

Now it's onto the next Long Run.