Instruction does much, but encouragement everything.
~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
I was determined to run the whole thing! It was my first 5K, and I had been practicing for about 10 weeks. I wanted so much to be able to run the entire race without walking, but I had no idea if it was possible. Running was new to me. In high school, one lap around the gym would have meant side cramps and stopping.
The sun was shining on that spring morning, and a brisk breeze blew. The weather couldn’t have been any better. We gathered at the starting line, and my heartbeat sped up with anticipation. The gun went off to signal the beginning of the race, and I started a slow jog. I knew to pace myself and not use all my energy at once. I knew to breathe evenly and maintain good posture.
I felt like I had good control on the physical aspects of running. Mentally, it was a whole other story.
My mind was all over the place. I had thoughts going through my head like:
What if I die right here on this street?
I’ve never run this much uphill before!
Can people hear how loudly I’m breathing?
I haven’t even passed the halfway point yet!
Did I really just pass gas?
Why did I think I could do this?
I think my mind was exhausting more of my energy than my body was.
After what felt like hours but was really about 30 minutes, I rounded a turn and could see the finish line that would follow a final lap of the high-school track. It was a relief, but it still seemed a million miles away. My breathing was all over the place. Spit dripped out of my mouth and onto my chin. My lungs gasped for air.
Suddenly, from somewhere to the left of me, I heard a tiny voice yelling three little words: “Go, girl, go!”
I glanced over and saw a little girl, around seven or eight years old, standing on her porch. She watched us with so much excitement that she could have burst. Her brown hair bounced as she screamed her encouraging words.
They were the exact words I needed to keep going.
I don’t know why she felt compelled to shout those words out to me that day, but I am grateful she did. Those very words got me to the finish line. And those words have carried me through other parts of my life, too. I need people in my life who will notice me on the verge of giving up — whether I’m in my job, trying to eat healthy, finishing a project, or chasing a dream — and, with a big smile and bubbling excitement, say, “Go, girl, go!”
She made me want to be that person for other people, too. I want to see them well into their race, whether it’s literal or figurative, and be the one screaming for them to keep going, reminding them that I believe in them.
The world would be a much brighter place with more of that kind of encouragement.
— Jen Chapman —