Staring up 25% grade. I will myself to keep moving forward. No matter how choppy my steps are, no matter how slow I feel. Keep going. I slog up the mountain.

Every week for the past few weeks I've run up the maintenance road of a local ski area, Gunstock Mountain Resort. With 1280 feet in elevation gain in 1.5 miles and grades ranging from 9%-25% it's a solid workout. And in the beginning it kicked my but. The first time I went back in June, I hiked up it wondering how on earth I managed to run up it the summer before. It seemed unfathomable. It took me 38 minutes to hike to the top.

Three or four weeks later I tackled it again, this time running. I walked the steepest portions of it, huffing and puffing, my heart rate through the roof. I managed to finish it in 26 minutes, faster than hiking, but not anywhere near as fast as I ran it last year.

A few weeks later I went back to the mountain, determined not to walk as much. I huffed and puffed but my heart rate wasn't quite as high and the steep part (25% grade) felt manageable instead of impossible. I ran it in 23:57.

Last night I went to the mountain feeling strong, knowing that I could tackle it and do well. Knowing that my goal of running to the top without stopping was possible. Knowing I was capable of beating my time from last week. But when I hit that steep part I lost all that confidence and that feeling of strength and I just slogged. Head down one foot in front of the other in a slow shuffle. I'd wanted to beat my time from the week before, but as I slogged I realized it probably wasn't going to happen.

Then somewhere from inside came this voice that said "Own These Miles." Own them. Put your name on them. Make them yours.Slogging wasn't owning it, and I knew it. Sometimes when we know we aren't going to hit our goal, in a small way we give up. We're already disappointed and so we quit a little. Maybe we don't walk of the course, but we stop giving it out best because there won't be a PR at the end. But not every run, not every race has to or can be a PR. The circumstances will always yield different results, we want them to be better than the result from before but often they are not. And when the results aren't what we hoped them to be, that's the very moment when we need to Own These Miles. Own it. Put your name on it.

[Tweet "Sometimes when we know we won't hit our goal we quit."]

My stride quickened, my arms pumped more. Damn it, I was going to own that last 200 yards to the summit even if fell to the ground in a heap at the end. I pushed just a little more and reached the top. 24:31. Not better than last week by the clock, but better than last week.

Ever feel like giving up because you know you're not going to improve or hit a PR? What do you need to own?

--Sarah

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