Birthday Miles
For a lot of people, their birthday is a day to sit back and relax. Well, that’s not me. I haven’t quite figured out that whole sit-back and relax part of life. And I doubt I ever will. That’s fine. For me, the best part of my birthday is the birthday miles.
You may be wondering what exactly birthday miles are. Well, let me tell you. Birthday miles are the miles I run on my birthday (hence the name). The total number of miles depends on the age that I am turning. So for example, I turned 26 years old this year so I ran 26 miles. And next year I’ll run 27 miles.
Now not everyone is going to run crazy long mileage. And not everyone can run this high ultra-distance mileage, especially if you’re just starting out running in your later years. Imagine running 30 or 40+ miles without any training. You’re going to just hurt yourself. But the mileage isn’t the key to the challenge. The goal is to find something that is doable, but still hard. The idea is to push yourself on the day that most people take easy. Just be different.
You might not be able to run your age at this point, but if you're just starting out running you could run your age in time. The challenge doesn’t even have to be running focused. Maybe you’re a weightlifter. You could create a challenge to do in the gym on your birthday. Something like squatting 135 pounds once for every year you’ve been alive. There are endless possibilities that you can come up with as long as you keep your mind open and be a little creative.
The idea behind birthday miles is the same as GCE as a whole. At GCE we Go Challenge Everything. The birthday miles are to challenge you. Find something in your life that you can push a little harder. And if you’re reading this right now thinking to yourself, there’s nothing really in my life that I can challenge myself with, you’re lying to yourself. We all have something that we can push a little harder on but we have to be willing to see what it is. Take a step back from your ego and gain a clear image of what it is you need to push.
Metaphorically running your birthday miles or actually going out and running will change your outlook in life. Use your birthday not as a day of lazy rest but as a day to push yourself to be better. Use your birthday as a day to Go Challenge Everything!
