We Choose to Go to the Moon!

This week marks the 48^th anniversary of the Apollo 11 trip to the moon. Apollo 11 launched July 16 and landed July 20, 1969. Because my family moved to Merritt Island, FL when I was 6 so my dad could work on the Apollo program, and I lived in that area until I myself was a 28-year-old parent, I think it’s safe to say that the space program had a huge influence on my life. Even now, one of my favorite inspirational quotes is one from John F. Kennedy speaking at Rice University on September 12, 1962 – about 35 days before I was born:

But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask, why climb the highest mountain? Why 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? (Why does Rice play Texas?) We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things not because they are easy, but because they are hard. Because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills. Because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win.

Why ever start running in the first place? Why enter a 5k race with hundreds or thousands of other 

people? Why sign up to run twice as far, a 10k? Why spend around two hours running the 13.1 miles of a half marathon? And why in the name of all that is holy, subject ourselves to 20 weeks of training to spend about 4 hours running 26.2 miles – a full marathon - at one time? I won’t even mention Ultras! Why choose this as our goal?

Not because they are easy, but because they are hard. As humans, we need to set goals for ourselves to prove to ourselves that we are capable. For some, it’s proof that we have become capable for the first time. For others, it’s proof that we are still capable.

Because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills. Training for any event, especially a full marathon, is an effort in itself. We put ourselves through intense mental and physical effort to endure the temporary pain of training in order to earn the permanent glory of completing our goal. We need this. It affirms our existence as human beings.

Because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win.  We might not literally win the races we enter; in fact, odds are we will not. But we accept the challenge, we pick a date, and we start training. We talk to and learn from others. We read. We google. We ache. We grimace with effort and we smile with victory. Choosing a goal, working toward it, and eventually achieving it makes life worth living.

It doesn’t matter what your goal is, but you should have one. And you should make it count. And when you have achieved that goal, you should choose another, loftier goal that challenges your newly acquired strength and ability. Keep challenging yourself and you keep growing, no matter how old you are.

Choose a goal today, and then go achieve it. Not “just another 5k.” Step it up. Reach for the stars. Extend yourself. If you’re a couch potato, get up off that couch and sign up for a 5k! If you’re comfortable with 5ks, move up to a 10k. If you’ve done 10ks, try a half marathon (it’s America’s most popular distance, after all.) When you’re ready, go for the whole enchilada: 26.2 miles. Or take your favorite distance and aim to do it better this time. Try something you’ve never tried before, or try to do something better or stronger or faster than you’ve ever done before.

What’s your Moon shot?