PMAG -15 Contemplation Achievement May 2015 Contemplation June 2015 Achievement | Page 28

FITNESS

THE BODY ACHIEVES
What The Mind Believes

FITNESS
seconds. My goal then
became to qualify for
the Boston Marathon,
so I started doing speed
work. Tempo runs became the norm. When I
toed the line for the Ottawa Marathon in 2002,
I can’t say I was 100%
confident that I’d make
the 3:40 Boston qualifying
time but I was going to
do my best. I crossed the
line in 3:34:07. I realized
that maybe I was capable of achieving more
than I gave myself credit
for.
After Boston, I turned my
focus to triathlons and I
tackled everything from
sprint distance to Ironman. I wasn’t fast but I
didn’t care. I just enjoyed
the sport and the camaraderie it provided.
As the years went by, I
took a bit of a hiatus from
everything and focused
on trying to start a family.
When that failed miserably, I returned to running. It helped heal the
wounds. I started to race
again. Gone were my
once somewhat speedy
legs. For some reason

that seemed to light a fire
in me. I wanted to get
better. I wanted to get
back to where I used to
be. I jumped right back
into running with both
feet. I brought back
tempo runs. I started
running with people that
were way faster than me,
trying to hang on for dear
life. I stepped outside my
comfort zone.
At the beginning of 2011
I set a goal. I was turning 40 and I said, “You
know what? I’m going to
make 40 the best year of
my life (to date).” With
that simple vow, a world
of possibility opened. I
rose to the challenge of
taking the knowledge I
had and crafting a plan
that would get me to
my goal. I wanted to run
three half marathons
that year with a goal of
running 1:40 or faster for
my last one in October
of that year. Given that
my half marathon PR was
1:43 and that was set
seven years previously, I
felt I had my work cut out
for me. I raced a lot that
year and came close to

breaking 1:40 at my second half marathon of the
year. I was amazed. I began to believe in myself
again. I went into each
race with a positive outlook, and a goal of working hard and giving it my
all. My new mantra became The Body Achieves
What the Mind Believes.
I can’t believe the things
I’ve achieved since that
race, all because I made
the decision that 40 was
going to be the best year
of my life AND I actually did something about
it. I was amazed by the
things that happened
along the way. I realized that my mindset has
changed. I’m no longer
a glass half empty kinda
gal. I’ve had all of my
best athletic performances happen over the last
couple of years. I’ve had
more success than I ever
imagined possible. The
body truly does achieve
what the mind believes.

Phaedra Kennedy is a FitFluential, Sweat Pink & Mermaid Club
Ambassador, a former RealDealGears athlete and a NAASFP certified
running coach. She is a multiple Ironman Triathlon and marathon
finisher, and enjoys healthy living and helping others.

W

hen I started running over 15 years ago, I was happy to just go out and run. Running
was an outlet for me. It was my “me” time. I never thought of it as anything else. It
was just something that I did to burn off steam. Then I started racing and running became
more than just my “me” time. I started to think about goals and achievement. I was never
fast enough to be really competitive but I was decent enough to consistently place in the
top 25% of my age bracket. I raced for several years, everything from 5k’s to marathons.
I ran my first marathon in 2001 when I turned 30 and I ran it in 3 hours, 55 minutes and 29

She blogs regularly at Blisters & Black Toenails.