My Stop Button Is Broke

Literally.

The "STOP" button on my treadmill decided to quit. I noticed it during a run earlier this week when my phone rang mid-run, so I hit the stop button and grabbed my phone, only to realize that the speed of the treadmill didn't change.

This was somewhat annoying, but not the end of the world.

Then, tonight, I hopped on the treadmill to do a 35 minute tempo run, where I would gradually increase my speed to an uncomfortable pace, then increase it some more, and some more, and then work my way back down to a less torturous speed. As soon as I stepped onto the treadmill, I remembered that the stop button wasn't working earlier in the week. So I started it up and hit stop, just to see if maybe it was back to functioning. It was not.

Now, the broken stop button DID seem like the end of the world. I panicked a little thinking, "What if I need to take a quick break during this run? I don't want to have to pull the plug. UGH! I cannot stop!"

My husband happened to be down in the garage when I realized that the button was definitely not working, so I explained the situation, telling him that the stop button didn't work and there was no way to stop during my run other than pulling the plug and wiping out all of my distance and time information. His response? "Well, don't you think that's a sign?"

Me: "A sign of what?"

Husband: "That you shouldn't stop..."

And, that was that. He was right. I shouldn't stop. I wouldn't stop. And I didn't stop. Finished up that tempo run a sweaty mess with 4.25 more miles in the books. And I felt proud.

Sometimes we need that extra little push to keep us going. Something that kicks our butt a little in the right direction and forces us to not stop, to not give up on what we want. And to keep fighting for it, no matter how many times we have fallen short in the past.

Because as these pictures prove, sometimes what we think is a failure, turns into something pretty great.

My "successful" post-run jumping pic.

And my jumping "fail" where I was pretty positive that my dog was going to destroy my phone. But clearly, this is the better picture :)

Sparkle.Pounce.Don't Stop.

Kendra