Remembering Dad and Conquering Goals

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A year ago today, Dad passed away at the age of 67 from complications caused by Multiple Myeloma.

It has been a tough year for all of us. He was such a special man and great father and grandfather. I have so many wonderful stories and memories and one year later, it is much easier to focus on all of that.

Today’s mantra has been that dad taught me to be strong and courageous, dad taught me to follow through, and dad taught me to never quit. Much of who I am today is because of who he was. With our daughter, we are teaching her to view life the same way. We’ve encouraged her to remember that she “can do hard things” and not to say, “I can’t” or “I can’t do it” but to instead ask for help with something is too difficult. Rather than giving up, we focus on getting to the end.

Today, I went for a long run, and I made it a challenge today in honor of the anniversary of Dad’s passing. My schedule called for me to run 16 miles, and when building a route, I wondered if I should take on a big challenge. I conferred with my coach and opted to go big today. I would conquer one of my biggest desires and run from Garmisch to Eibsee. Eibsee is a large lake that sits in the shadow of Germany’s highest mountain, the Zugspitze. This run has been on my list since we moved here. 

I decided to make a route that would let me test my mettle and conquer some other shorter hills along the way. Many of my routes last year took me into the woods along a trail that runs 4 miles out of town. Then on the way back there’s another side trail that takes you over a ridgeline into one of the neighboring towns. This route is about 6.5 miles from Garmisch to Grainau and has 3-4 hills that can be challenging. This year, I set a goal to get over all of them without stopping to walk. For the first time, I managed to get them all on the same run today and even added a bonus hill at the end of the last one.

Then, it was time to suffer. In just 2 miles, I had to climb 819 ft. Much of this climb was in short and steep uphill sections with some flatter hills between. I’m still working on my climbing legs while running and it’s even harder to maintain a lower heartrate while climbing. But, I remembered how my dad believed in me and how he taught me to conquer my goals. “I can do hard things” After two brutal miles, I made it to Eibsee and knowing that I had achieved this goal that once seemed impossible caused me to smile.

I did a 4.5-mile lap of the lake and then headed back to meet my family for a dip in the pool to cool down and relax. We had hoped to bbq some ribs, my specialty dish that I often discussed with Dad, but we ran out of time.

It was a challenging day, but a rewarding one. Would have been more special to share it with my dad, but he was there with me today, and that’s what matters.