Ving-Nation

When skimming the internet for motivational and insipirational quotes and imagery, I came across this Nike ad. It holds so much truth and is more relatable then you could ever imagine. It states the following:
You pretended the snooze button didn't exist. You dragged your butt out of bed while others slept. While others ate their pancakes. You had a feast of protein, glucose and electrolytes. You double knotted. You left the porch light on and locked the door behind you. You RAN 5K's, 10K's, 26.2 Miles. some days more, some days less. You rewarded a long run with a short run. And a short run with a long run. Rain tried to slow you. Sun tried to microwave you. Snow made you feel like a warrior. You cramped. You bonked. You paid no mind to comfort on weekend. On Holidays, you made excuses to keep going. questioned yourself. Played mind games. Put your heart before your knees. Listened to your breathing. Sweat sunscreen into your eyes. Worked on your farmers tan. You hit a wall. You went through it. You decided to be a man about it. You decided to be a woman about it. Finished what you started. Proved what you were made of. Just kept putting mile after mile on your internal odometre for 25 years you ran. And we with you. How much farther will we go? As far as you will.
There are a few lines in this copy that I can relate to.

The first: While others ate pancakes. You had a feast of protein, glucose and electrolytes. So true. There have been numerous Sunday mornings when I have been out running for hours. While passing peoples homes I picture them just waking, in dark robes, pouring coffee, reading the paper and eating fluffly pancakes on their couches while relaxing music played lightly in the background.. All the while I am on the road refueling my body with electrolyte jellies of some sort, metabolizing them with water and rocking out with one of my many power songs--perhaps Eye of the Tiger or Heartbreaker!!?? HA!

The Second: You rewarded a long run with a short run and a short run with a long run. 100% truth. Weekly this is a funny game that my mind plays with my body. I have said it a million times and I will probably say it a million more. I love running. But sometimes the body is not feeling the love. Whether its sore, tired, the weather is sucky--either way my mind tricks it by reminding the bod how effing great I will feel after a run. One of the ways it does so is treating each run as though it as a reward for the last! It probably sounds abs ridic to you but it makes more then perfect sense to me. Loves!

The Third: You hit a wall. You went through it. You decided to be a woman about it. Yep, verifiable. Been there, done that and will probably be down that road a few more times. I have hit a wall. It hurts and it is frustrating but there is nothing quite like proving how kick ass you are by being a woman about it and running through it. There is nothing else I do in my life that makes me feel as confident or as strong as running, especially when you kick it up a notch and run through it! Indeed.

The Fourth: You finished what you started. Factual. Growing up my rents would NEVER let my bro and I not finish something that we started. As a child everyone in my hood played soccer. So I was signed up. Had to go with the flow. It was evident from the first practice, that soccer was not really my sport AT ALL. This became even more evident when we started playing actual league games. All you had to do to find me is look for the ball and then look to the exact opposite of the field-oh yes there I was, rolling around in the grass, doing cartwheels. And when I asked to maybe quit the team, pleading that it was obvi that soccer was not my thing--My dad looked at me and said point blank-The Vingoe's finish what they start. Period. It has been engrained. That was a long soccer season where I must admit my cartwheel was almost perfected by the end. Practice does make perfect, ya know.

The Fifth: Put your heart before your knees. BONAFIDE. My heart smiles big and sings the happiest song when I start putting one foot in front of the other and run. My heart is light and weightless when my runners are neatly double knotted and on my feet. It is all about my heart. And my heart always seems to win. When I am hurting and tired and my body is in "can't" mode. My heart calls the shots, makes the rules. When I ran the ottawa marathon my pelvis and legs were screaming NO louder then you can even imagine but the yes in my heart won that one. I put my heart before my pelvis.

That inspirational piece of copy that Nike put together to advertise the 25 year of the Pegasus spoke to me. I believe that was the idea but in this case it truly worked. It stopped me in my tracks. It was truth, verifiable, bonafide and completely relatable. For that well it had to be shared.

V.