The lesson of 500

This morning Nicky came with me for a gentle just under 3-miler, which was impressive for her as she hasn't run for months.

For me it is a day for celebration as it was my 500th consecutive day of running at least a mile, and I feel rather proud.

I wonder why that is, as it's nothing spectacular to run a mile, and it's also not spectacular to run a mile the next day either. Actually, thinking about it, it's not spectacular to run a mile every day for 500 days.

It's something to do with the idea I thought of fairly recently of pushing the ordinary far enough that it might become extra-ordinary.

I'm not suggesting that I'm extraordinary, or even that running a mile each day is extraordinary. It's just that at some point ordinary with enough commitment becomes something that is a bit beyond the ordinary, whilst still being ordinary, if that makes sense.

For me, the people I really look up to as "heroes" probably wouldn't see themselves as such in any way, because they are ordinary people doing ordinary things who have pushed themselves beyond what I, and others, consider reasonable.

If I think back to when I started this experiment, I would not have considered it possible for me to still be doing my daily mile. That's what feels great.

And yet, although for a large number of the 500 days I have had to overcome resistance to do my mile or so, on its own each of those small wins wasn't that big a deal.

It's when I add up the small wins and keep putting one foot in front of the other, I suddenly realise that I am capable of far more than I ever gave myself credit for.

Now that's a lesson that could make a huge difference in my life, if I can bring that to every aspect of my life!