We all work.

Although “work” isn’t so easily defined for all of us. For some of us, “work” is what pays the bills. Going to the gym is “working” out. To others, volunteering is “work.” It’s all work – in some way or another.

Sure, we all “work” for someone. Unless you are one of the lucky people who have no one to answer to but yourself, either because you’re a loner or because you’re a billionaire, you “work” for someone.

But my question to you goes deeper than a boss / authority figure: WHO do YOU work for?

You don’t make money for your boss, you make money for yourself or a family you’re supporting. But in the end, are you happy with the “work” you’re doing? Are you really working for the money, are you working for the boss, are you working for your family, or are you working for yourself? Is the paycheck the most important thing?

The reason I pose this question is because it is a question that I, myself, have posed a lot recently… to, well, myself. I don’t make a lot of money and I work a lot. But what is my end goal? Do I have a plan? Do I have a vision? The things that I do outside of my 9-5 job, are all those activities (other involvement) considered, work? Do I see the hard “work” I put into those things as valuable? Of course. Because I don’t get paid to run. I don’t get paid to do improv. I do those things for myself.

Even if you spend 80 hours a week at the office, or you work 100 hours a week at 3 jobs, or you are lucky and you have a very strict 9-5, 40 hour a week gig, it’s important to take a step back from the daily grind and remember who you work for FIRST.

Who’s your number one boss? You. YOU are you’re number one boss. You know when you’re procrastinating, working diligently, improving, accomplishing, goal setting, yada yada yada. You know YOU better than anyone… which that should go without saying.

I know I need a reminder every once in a while. So, I thought, maybe if I wrote it down and reminded myself, in turn, I’d help to remind other people. You work for yourself first, because if you’re your own number one employee, it will show in everything else you do.

I work really hard. Always have.

That medal was my running paycheck. I earned it.

But particularly, I’ve worked really hard for six months on a “side-project”, and this past Sunday was my mid-year evaluation. I ran my first ever half-marathon. 13.1 miles. The Long Branch, New Jersey half-marathon. And the only one boss that could judge my performance? Me.

It was, by far, the most difficult thing I have ever done. Not only was it 13.1 miles, but it was 93 degrees, no shade, no breeze (for at least 10.5 of the 13.1 miles), high pollen count, etc. etc… By mile 2 I wanted to quit – and I knew I had a long way to go.

My goal was a finishing time of 2 hours and 30 minutes. I ended up finishing in 2 hours and 56 minutes. Was I disappointed?Sure. But was I proud of myself? Absolutely. For the last six months I have trained and prepared 100% on my own. No one else made me get up in the morning and run 5 miles, no one else told me I had to run after working at 15 hour day… I told myself. I did the work.

My friend Colette and my friend Greg were my mentors – talking me through the bad runs, the good runs, and the prep. But in the end, my legs did the running.

And yeah, I’ll admit it, mile 9 of 13.1, I cried. Straight up. No lies. I didn’t know if I could finish or not. As I watched people passing out beside me, and people throwing up from heat exhaustion, I had to have the conversation with myself, did I want to pass out or did I want to finish? I chose the later.

In running, in comedy, in life, I am my own boss. If I am proud of the work I do, the people I literally work for will feel the same way.

Who do YOU work for?

Word.

So, back in November, I wrote about how building a business is like training for a marathon. That’s when I started training. Before November, the longest consecutive, actual, RUN I had ever done was maybe 1.5 miles. Maybe 3 miles with a lot of walking in there.

Today, at 10:47AM I completed an 8.2 mile run. And it felt amazing. In hopes this doesn’t confuse you, I am NOT a runner, who is currently running.

Part of the gorgeous view on my run today

Why?

Well, a lot of reasons, really. But here’s my story…

My entire life the only sport I have ever really been good at is golf. I’ve played golf since I could walk pretty much, played competitively in late elementary school through high school and then stopped when I went to college, mainly because I was burnt out. Now I can just enjoy it. However, I’m not saying that golf doesn’t require any sort of athleticism, because it does. You try walking 18 holes of golf when its 100 degrees out carrying an 80+ pound bag on your back. Trust me, you’ll sweat. But golf never required running.

I did play softball for a while and was pretty good at it, but could never make the high school team. Why? Because I couldn’t run the mile. I wanted to, but I would pass out half way through.

Growing up I had reactive airway disease. It’s basically an exaggerated form of asthma that can be brought on by a lot of things… running especially. I also have flat feet and was pigeon toed for the first 14 years of my life. Boo! So, needless to say, running in orthotics that were trying to straighten my feet out was pretty difficult. Oh, And I have scoliosis (still do), so running aggravated my back (it seems to be helping it now!). I’m not trying to give you my entire medical history, I’m just putting all of this in context for you.

Well, with all those things combined, yours truly was never a runner. I went through college, running very, very little. I would do the elliptical at the gym, but that was it. After college, same thing.

I will tell you that in the three years I’ve been out of college, my life has changed dramatically.

And then November of 2009 came. I was unemployed, broke, living in a new state, not a lot of friends, and my personal relationships began to suffer. So, I needed to do something different.

My cousins (who live all over the country) and I were talking and we decided that we were going to run a half-marathon together as a family. This was something that I thought to myself, there is NO way that I’m going to be able to do this. Then I stepped back, looked at myself and said, no, F THAT. I can totally do this. I’ve always been able to do whatever I have set my mind to. I’m exactly like my mother, if I am determined enough, I can seriously do anything.

So, I found a training program and I started. I trained hard through November and December. Got REALLY sick and had to take two weeks off. Trained hard in January and the first part of February, tore six tendons in my foot, had to take two weeks off. Then had to self-motivate to get myself back up into training mode.

Three weeks ago I realized, holy crap, I’m signed up to run the Tarheel 10 Miler on April 10th. I kicked into high gear. Before this morning, my longest consecutive run (without stopping) was six miles. I did a short run yesterday and my knees were killing me. But I said, NO knees! I am going to run 8 miles today whether you like it or not.

So, early this morning, I got up, took some calcium and advil, drank some water, mapped my route, and started running. And it was actually amazing. There were a couple hills that wanted to kick my ass along the way, but I conquered them. I ran through a beautiful part of UNC campus and Chapel Hill and just admired the flowers on the trees. The breeze was blowing, the air was still in that morning cool, and Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” started playing from my playlist. Cliche, yes, but that song is awesome to run to.

All in all, it was hard, but even when I was finished, I probably could have kept going if I wanted to. I only stopped twice to get a drink of water (free water cup in Subway, FTW!), but then I kept right back running.

What does all this really mean? Right now, life is stressful. I’m working all the time, my feet hurt, I’m single, I’m broke, and I wrecked my car on Tuesday. But I feel great. When I cross the finish line next Saturday, April 10th, at the Tarheel 10 Miler, I might cry. Who knows? Then, on Sunday, May 2nd, I will run 13.1 miles in the New Jersey, Long Branch Half Marathon with my family. This is something I really never thought I could ever do. Hell, I used to get made fun of all the time as a kid for not being able to run the mile in gym class because I’d have to stop after a lap to take a few puffs from my inhaler.

I’m running these races because I can, and I never thought I could.

Although the last few months have been emotionally taxing, I see the light at the end of the tunnel. I’ve grown closer to some of my friends, I’ve made new ones, and I’m learning more about myself as a determined young woman.

As my mom always used to say, “Hey muffin, this, too, shall pass.” Thanks mom, always lookin’ out. These ones are for you.

Word.

As you are reading this (barring that you are reading this ON Thanksgiving Day), I am doing one of three things:

1. Snacking on the snacking pie.
2. Stuffing my face.
2. Sleeping.

After doing those things, I will need to work off those calories. I mean, I AM training for a half-marathon. I can’t set myself back 6 days.

Well, I love to dance. Why not dance to the beat of the holiday? I will be doing the turkey legg. I hope you enjoy this video – and don’t forget to do the TURKEY legg (via@iagreewithjoe). If you can’t see the video, click here.

Word.