Greatness is Within...

I have injured myself… again. It is confirmed that I have a tear in my right calf muscle. How bad the tear is we are not yet 100% sure I still need to go for a diagnostic ultrasound so they can see the damage I have done.

In the last 24 hours I have felt a variety of emotions from sadness to anger and then to fear. Last night I was sitting on my couch crying and saying to Mike “Why do I have to strive for greatness, why can’t I just be happy with completing a marathon why is it that I want to train to Boston qualify and to obtain elite status”! I can’t really answer that all I know is I was born with the overachiever gene and I never do anything halfhearted, it is all or nothing.

I tweeted earlier today “There is no injury in mediocrity, why can't I settle for being less than great”, and than I received a tweet from @TheLostGrad “Ain’t no injuries, but there damn sure ain’t no Glory either!!” It was this that made me realize how much of a wimp I am being. Yes I have an injury, is it the end of the world, NO!!

I thought back to Nike’s Find Greatness campaign along with a commercial that was aired at the Olympics this last summer  and they made me realize that setback happen, obstacles jump in our way but it how we overcome those obstacles and setbacks that prove if we are truly great or not.

"Now here's the reality of it. You don't want to be walking off with any regrets. 

Be annoyed. Go cry. You're on the line between breaking point and breaking through.

In struggle, you'll find strength. 

Now get over that line! Dig for that extra inch!

Take the best you can do! And do better! 

Every second is a moment in time. But this second is a moment in history."

Last night I felt like my dream to run was Boston was slipping out of my hands. I felt like throwing in the towel and giving up. This morning brought me a fresh new prospective. I might be out for a few weeks I might lose a little bit of my endurance in the short run but in the long run I am going to come back and I am going to come back stronger and faster than ever because there is greatness inside of me and I am not going to allow a little injury get in my way of qualifying for Boston.

I have given myself an hour to grieve over my lost training and my calf and now I am ready to fight, ready to do everything in my power to heal and come back strong.

I have to change up my training a little bit. My physio said once I am healed I will have to reduce mileage and speed for a period of time until I am back to normal but my physio is amazing and has always gotten me back on my feet in better condition than before I started seeing him.

Today I found greatness within myself, greatness that was always there but I didn’t realize was there, today I am a stronger person than I was yesterday.

My Love For Marathons and San Fran

I recently just read a post by Kara Goucher called “I Am InLove with the Boston Marathon”. It is such an inspiring post and makes me even more excited to run qualify for Boston. It has also inspired me to write my own post on my love for San Francisco.

I have not yet qualified for Boston and have not ran it so I am not in love with Boston yet, however I am in love with San Francisco.

Nike Women’s Marathon was my debut marathon and it will always have a little piece of my heart. I loved running in Nike Women’s and getting the opportunity to run my very first marathon gave me the confidence that I could handle the distance, I could never thank Nike Women enough for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime. Before running Nike Women's I had only ever ran a 10km race.

I am returning to Nike Women’s Marathon again in the October with Teams in Training. I am so excited to run the city of San Francisco and for a great cause. I will run my third marathon the day before my 28^th birthday, a year and 1 week after I ran my very first marathon!!

The other day I was ranting and raving about my love for San Francisco and my love for the Nike Women’s marathon and my friend asked me “Tiara, why do you love San Francisco so much, I mean don’t the hills scare you?” the answer is yes. They scare me a lot!! But there is so much more that I love about San Fran. The memory of those hills is what is pushing me through my training right now because nothing can be worst than those hills, that I was no 100% prepared for.

San Fran reminds me of being home in Newfoundland or Halifax again. It has a very welcoming and loving feel and the ocean just pulls me in and doesn't want me to leave.

If you have never run the Nike Women’s you need to enter the lottery or sign up with TNT and give this amazing city a chance to steal a little piece of your heart, I know you too will fall in love with marathons and the city of San Francisco. 

Serena Williams Core Power - 30 Day NTC Challenge

As you probably already know by now Nike Women have released an updated to their Nike Training Club app with a few new bonus content workouts. The feature this month is beautiful and amazing Serena Williams. All this workout requires is a stability ball and resistance bands and no you don’t have to do so many minutes to unlock the workout.

As a runner I try to work on my core as much as possible – however, sometimes I get lazy and I figure what I do is enough. My core strength is what helps me maintain my pace through those long miles. As a runner when I saw this workout open up I got beyond excited to see it was a core focused workout and it only takes 15 minutes.

I always love a good challenge and I always love to challenge myself. In the Month of April I have a challenge for you!!

April is 30 days of Serena Williams Core Power workout.

Here are the rules: You do Serena Williams Core Power workout once a day for 30 days and hashtag your workout with #CorePower. This will encourage those who are also involved in the challenge. 

Not only will this help improve your core strength but you will gain yourself some mad NTC minutes. 450 minutes to be exact, on top of what you already do on your own.

Who is in this challenge with me!? Tweet me at @TiaraBeth or comment below.

I want to make sure I hold all of you accountable. Also you can hold me accountable. With my first marathon 68 days away I need more core power.

Ready, set, let’s go! 

Exclusive Serena Williams Content

I have teamed up with Nike Women to bring you exclusive content from Nike Training Club. 

Those of you Nike Training Club enthusiast probably already know that Nike Training Club has teamed up with Serena Williams to bring you an exclusive Serena Williams workout. 

What I adore most about Nike Training Club app is that all the workouts are created by Nike trainers themselves or Nike athelets. These workouts are tried and tested and they work. 

I have been using the NTC app since 2009 and I am well over 14,000 minutes. This app has motivated me to keep pushing through my workouts. With each workout you do you can open more and more exclusive workouts from different trainers and athletes. 

This month the focus is Serena Williams and the workout is AMAZING!! If you want to work your core this is the workout is for you. Grab your iPhone,open your NTC app and download this workout. Get your stability ball and resistance bands ready because this workout is GREAT!!

The Nike Training Club app has helped me get through a marathon and is assisting me through a second. The app has made me stronger, faster and an overall better runner.I hope it does the same for you.