Being Bold

Sometimes we don't realize what being bold is.  To me, being bold is when you're going forward with life, knowing that you're taking the right steps.  Taking risks because you're confident with whatever is going on.  With my running, I need to be bold because it takes risk to run an ultramarathon.  It's not every day that I just go out and run races over 30 miles.  It means that I have to be absolutely confident with myself.  Able to take that leap and run knowing that I'd get to the end.

Whenever you do something, it's better to be bold about it.  To be brimming with confidence in your own ability and knowing the risks you're taking.  But what's the point of being bold if you have nothing to base it off of?  When you're bold, it means you've got something backing you up.  I'm watching a show right now on TV about this guy that's wrestling an alligator.  To me, that looks dangerous and really bold, but to them, they've got the experience backing them up.  They danced with the alligator before catching it, letting it almost snap their hands off as they drug the giant reptile out into the open and taped it's mouth shut.  There's always a risk that they'll lose a limb to an alligator snapping their mouths on it, but so far (knock on wood) they've caught the alligators with their skills.

One can only be bold by either being stupid or being smart.  Either they have no clue what they're doing, or they know exactly what they're getting themselves into.  I'm not advocating the stupid route, but I'm definitely all for the smart route.  The better the background, the more experience you have.  The more experience you have, the more you know about what you're getting yourself into.  How do I do that?  I run.  A lot.  I have to because if I don't, then I don't get the experience I need.  Yesterday, I went out for a run in the morning and ran 3.77 miles in 28:01, an average of 7:26 min/mile.  Didn't run too far too fast, but every little bit gets me closer to the next big step.  I was being bold when I signed up for the 100 mile race.  It may have been a stupid impulsive decision, but with proper training, I'm able to change that stupid impulsive decision into a smart idea (not that I'm saying running a 100 mile race is smart...).  I'm ready to have some fun, be bold and leap forward.

Are you?