You don’t need less weight. You need stronger legs.

This morning wasn’t perfect. There was conflict. There were excuses. There was the usual mental chatter — but louder. Life got in the way, and I almost let it.

I’ve made several decisions in the past few days that the “old me” would’ve avoided. Not because I wasn’t capable — but because I didn’t want to deal with how uncomfortable they made other people.

Back then, I didn’t have a backbone. I didn’t stand for anything.
I just wanted to be liked.
But that version of me didn’t have values. He had approval-seeking habits.
And like the Aaron Tippin song says — when you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.

Now I know exactly what I stand for.
And because of that, the decisions I used to avoid?
They’re easy.

When I left the house for this run, I wasn’t inspired. I was tired. Distracted. And carrying a ruck full of mental baggage. But I hit start anyway.

The first half hour sucked. My hamstring felt like a bunch of needles all stabbing at once. I told myself it would pass — and when it didn’t, I kept going anyway. And somewhere between the sting and the sweat, it all started to shift.

The excuses got quieter.
My breath got deeper.
The run started to feel like mine again.

At about mile 11, I saw a kid wearing a shirt that said “NO EXCUSES” in big, bold letters. I passed him and yelled it — loud and proud — with a clenched fist high in the air. That moment locked it in.

This run — 15.3 miles in 2 hours and 20 minutes — wasn’t about pace or perfection. It was about intent. It was about discipline under duress. It was about taking every excuse — mine, yours, theirs — throwing them in the ruck, and running until they carried no weight.

Because I’m tired of masks.
I’m tired of other people’s poor standards infecting my life.
I’m tired of pretending like I don’t see what I see.

I’ve built a life around muting the noise. Around keeping my word to myself. Around doing the hard shit first. And yes — it’s lonely at the top. It’s lonely when you realize how many people are addicted to their own excuses and blind to their own standards.

But I’m not here to carry their load. I’m here to carry mine — and maybe inspire someone else to start carrying theirs.

So when my legs hurt…
When the weather turns…
When the brain starts offering me exits…

I take a deep breath.
I exhale longer than I inhale.
And I whisper, “shhh”

What I’m really doing in those moments is training my brain not to make decisions when my body is in overdrive.
It’s the practice of creating space — a breath between stimulus and response.
Because most people are making decisions based on feeling.
Reaction.
Heat.

But when you vow to speak from the heart, it demands something different.
It requires a pause.
A breath.
A moment for your mind to see more than one path forward.

That’s the practice.
That’s the reason I laced up and showed up.
Why? Because YOU didn’t!

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Distance: 15.30 miles
Time: 2:20:08
Average Pace: 9:09 / mile
Calories Burned: 1,666
Average Heart Rate: 145 bpm

“Most people are reacting. I’m breathing.”