Giving all you've got-and then some

 "If you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe then you will be successful"

-Victor Runco 

Playing on the trails

Many times as a young girl growing up I did whatever I could to just make it through each day. My life was not an easy one, and I would not wish it upon any child. I remember always saying to myself when I would cry myself to sleep, " You made it through today, and all you have to do is do that again tomorrow". It's funny how I learned at such a young age to be in the moment, and simply use the skills and tools that life gives you naturally to adapt and make it through each day. One time in my eighth grade English class my history teacher was giving us a talk about what we had plans to do with our lives for the next 24 years. I thought it was odd she picked the number 24 years. I distinctly remember sitting in that class that day and laughing in my own head. My thoughts wandered to not what I would do to get through the next 24 years, but more how I would make it through the next 24 hours. For the entire afternoon following class that day I focused on those exact thoughts. I was filled with excitement thinking about the fact that all I had to do from this point forward was only focus on getting through each 24 hour period. I believe even as young people we pick up learned behaviors that stick with us our entire lives. At a young age I learned to only get through each day, and simply put aside the traumas and worries of what the future held. In my world the future was a scary place; so I adapted, and fought the best way I knew how. I lived day to day, and simply stayed the absolute most positive I could to get through until the next 24 hour period. This most certainly is no way for a child to live. 


I never had the joys that most kids had, but what I did have was gain this incredible skill to adapt to any situation, and I also learned to be self sufficient, positive in the worst circumstances, and not sweat the small stuff. It also taught me to be extremely fearless. What could possibly be worse than what I had been through the last 18 years? I simply had zero fear of failure for some reason. It taught me to be quite the little fighter, and go after exactly what I want. I was never given a single helping hand from anyone growing up. I was never told I would be able to go to college. I was never encouraged to do amazing things. I was simply constantly told I was worthless, and would never amount to anything. For 18 years this was told to me, and at that time I did the only thing I knew how. I fought. Once I was old enough I left home quickly, and started my own battle. I had my son not to long after, and it was that child that brought out the best in me. All those amazing skills that I learned from fighting for my survival as a child came out when it mattered most. I simply wasn't going to let my family hurt me anymore, and no matter what it took I would make it. 




I believe with all my heart we are exactly what we limit ourselves to. People are constantly gonna tell you no. You will never get a "yes" the first time around. If you want anything bad enough you must be persistent, and give it all your heart and go after it. I tend to be extreme on the side of passion and persistence. In some cases I cannot let things go easily, and it has most certainly at times backfired on me. I am in constant forward motion, and my energy level can be a bit much for some people. I have had to learn to be aware of it more, and be OK with the fact that not everyone is going to like me. I love people, and 99% of the time I blend great with anyone anywhere...but there have been moments where something was simply not the best thing for me or meant to be, and I had a hard time moving on from it. I have a shit ton of integrity, and give anything I am doing 100% of my heart and love. There have been times where I have been taken advantage of because of that, and others have used that to there advantage. I am completely OK with this as it's just my personality, and I am full of fire and passion, and I would never wanna change that. It always ends up that something a million times better was just around the corner, and I am constantly reminding myself that when one door closes five more better ones will open up. This is one of the #1 keys to success and staying positive. Always remind yourself that when something does not go the way we planned or hoped for its simply because it's not life's plan, and something much better is in the works. Stay focused, positive, and keep moving in the forward direction and all roads will lead to the destiny! I promise!! 


Weariness leads to discouragement. When you are discouraged you see only the problem instead of the possibility. You talk about the way it "is" instead of the way it can "be". If you allow yourself to become weary you loose your passion, and your enthusiasm. The more you talk about how tired you are the more tired you will become. You are simply just adding fuel to the fire. Don't talk about the way you are-talk about the way you wanna be. We all get tired and weary. Here is what I tell myself all the time: If you never feel like giving up then your dreams are to small...you need to get larger goals if you are not discouraged or overwhelmed at times. You must move through life with a positive attitude, and talk the good talk. If you are not your biggest fan them how can you possibly expect others to believe in you. Two years ago when I had a very BIG dream of having a Trail race in Griffith Park I literally had people laugh out loud to me. I had a park ranger simply say no. I had people tell me it would never happen, not possible, the city would never let that happen, and it just was impossible. Many reminded me they never have let anyone have races on the trails in the park anymore, and it just wasn't going to happen. Today I have two Trail Races in Griffith Park, and plans for a third one. I love the park officials more than any other organization I have races with, and I am so blessed to have my Griffith Park family. I simply did not settle for no. I turned every rock over, climbed every mountain, and knew I would make it happen. Do I believe fate played a big part in all of it? Yes absolutely. Many other people had tried there many times to get in the park and have Trail races, but I believe in my heart it's my destiny, and what is meant to be for me. So with a whole lot of tenacity, passion, and persistence I made my dream a reality, and I believe anyone can do just that. It takes a whole lot more than that to be successful, but for me this was the start of my calling and what I was meant to do with my life. 


Two years ago yesterday someone came into my life that introduced me to Griffith Park, and it was because of him that I had a deep desire to have a race in that park. He simply mentioned he did his brick work out in there, and I decided to take my friend Shannon and go run in there, and check it out. He also led me to the love of my life Jesse(THANK YOU!!!), and gave me the passion and fire to create Ray Miller 50mile/50k and a ton of other amazing things in my life. It's amazing how a certain person or thing in life can be such a driving force. To my advantage that person is not in my life anymore, but I am grateful everyday that he quickly came in and out of it. He brought out the best in me for what is now my "best life ever", but I most certainly needed a little push. I needed to be pushed out of the previous situation I was in before (which was very easy and comfortable) in order to reach my full potential of what is now my most awesome life ever!! Sometimes in order to get to the fruits of the loin you must pick through the rotted ones first. In other words sometimes in life we have to go through bad stuff for the good stuff to happen. They key is to keep moving forward, and always remind yourself no matter how bad off it is-it most certainly could be a lot worse, and it will only get better. Below is a great picture of me taking a leap off a trail from a run Jesse and I did the other day plus a few other fun pics from the new Griffith Park 10k course!! Cannot wait for the Griffith Park Trail 10k!!! 

My Jesse! So hot!! Love you baby!! 

The views from the 10k course!

I honestly believe you can do anything you set your heart out to do. Couple that with hard work, consistency, integrity, and being good to people in your path then it will only lead to success. It's vital to know your worth, and not doubt that. At times I have been guilty of that, and that's OK-it happens. Simply set out to improve, be better, and just not settle for anything but exactly what you want out of life. I always say at least twice a day, "It's better to aim for the stars and miss then aim for a pile of manure and hit it"- 


On,On,On with life my friends!!