WEBVTT 00:01.880 --> 00:04.530 - Every morning, a gazelle wakes up. 00:04.530 --> 00:08.697 It knows it must not run the fastest line, or it'll die. 00:09.736 --> 00:11.991 And every morning, a lion wakes up. 00:11.991 --> 00:15.029 It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, 00:15.029 --> 00:17.112 or it'll starve to death. 00:17.376 --> 00:20.308 It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle, 00:20.308 --> 00:24.225 when the sun comes up, you'd better be running. 00:26.041 --> 00:28.016 My name is Captain Danielle Pozun, 00:28.016 --> 00:30.256 and I'm on the Marine Corp Running Team. 00:30.256 --> 00:32.256 What drives me to run is 00:33.019 --> 00:35.762 it's the healthiest way, I think, to get out 00:35.762 --> 00:39.262 all the demons, focus on the right things. 00:40.005 --> 00:43.755 Especially out here, it's kind of my me time. 00:44.172 --> 00:48.172 And that's where I really spend time reflecting. 00:48.366 --> 00:51.199 It's almost kind of like a prayer. 00:52.272 --> 00:56.439 So this was at the Johnstown Marathon in my hometown. 00:57.255 --> 00:59.500 We still have this blanket. 00:59.500 --> 01:02.721 That was one of the first marathons that my dad did. 01:02.721 --> 01:04.704 And it would go by our house, so we would always 01:04.704 --> 01:07.505 stand there with cups of water and pass it out 01:07.505 --> 01:11.281 to my dad, and then drive down to the finish line. 01:11.281 --> 01:13.281 So that's him finishing. 01:13.545 --> 01:16.295 He was a smoker for 16 years, and 01:18.393 --> 01:20.226 not really an athlete. 01:20.998 --> 01:23.110 My mom got pregnant with my older brother, 01:23.110 --> 01:26.748 and he, at that point, just decided, "I need to..." 01:26.748 --> 01:29.110 "I'm gonna be a dad, so I'm gonna change some things." 01:29.110 --> 01:31.943 And, just quit smoking cold turkey 01:32.038 --> 01:35.038 and went on the track and ran a lap. 01:35.721 --> 01:38.616 Next day, went out and did two laps. 01:38.616 --> 01:40.317 Next day, three laps until he 01:40.317 --> 01:42.037 just started running marathons. 01:42.037 --> 01:44.704 What I always thought was really 01:46.241 --> 01:48.301 impressive was his dedication. 01:48.301 --> 01:51.453 My dad still made time to go run in the mornings 01:51.453 --> 01:55.620 or after work, but also incorporated us into that. 01:56.901 --> 02:00.484 I'm impatient, so running keeps me patient. 02:00.657 --> 02:04.274 I go into a lot of things, and I expect, "Okay, I'm gonna 02:04.274 --> 02:07.047 "do this and I'm gonna results immediately." 02:07.047 --> 02:10.289 Every day, I might not have a great run, but I'm 02:10.289 --> 02:13.263 getting out there and I'm putting time on my feet. 02:13.263 --> 02:17.000 It's just chopping wood every day, I'm chopping wood. 02:17.000 --> 02:19.656 And then eventually, you're gonna build a fire. 02:19.656 --> 02:22.073 And something is gonna spark. 02:22.367 --> 02:23.863 There's a quote that I like that says, 02:23.863 --> 02:26.441 "Make peace with the boredom of mastery." 02:26.441 --> 02:30.528 And that's something that I'm trying to get better at is 02:30.528 --> 02:32.521 just making peace with the fact that 02:32.521 --> 02:33.778 it is going to be boring. 02:33.778 --> 02:36.882 And some days, I'm gonna go out and I'm gonna say, 02:36.882 --> 02:38.528 "I don't wanna do this." 02:38.528 --> 02:42.195 My dad always taught me the first 10 minutes 02:42.303 --> 02:43.415 are gonna suck. 02:43.415 --> 02:46.038 The first 10 minutes are not gonna be easy. 02:46.038 --> 02:48.788 If you still feel bad after that, 02:49.112 --> 02:50.557 then you can make a decision of 02:50.557 --> 02:52.581 maybe I'm gonna scrap it for the day. 02:52.581 --> 02:54.678 But you gotta give it those first 10 minutes. 02:54.678 --> 02:56.700 And I'll tell you nine times out of 10, 02:56.700 --> 02:58.229 after those first 10 minutes, 02:58.229 --> 03:01.396 my mind's already gone somewhere else. 03:01.859 --> 03:04.651 It's always a humbling experience, and the heartbreak 03:04.651 --> 03:07.580 about running is, especially in long distances, 03:07.580 --> 03:11.267 you can't go out the next week and redeem yourself. 03:11.267 --> 03:13.850 The race was at the end of May. 03:14.195 --> 03:16.362 I was definitely prepared. 03:16.629 --> 03:19.041 Mentally, I felt like the strongest I had been. 03:19.041 --> 03:20.804 Physically, I was the fastest I've ever been. 03:20.804 --> 03:22.721 So I was ready to roll. 03:23.475 --> 03:27.233 And going through those first 20 miles felt great. 03:27.233 --> 03:31.400 And I know that I had done a couple miles too fast. 03:31.736 --> 03:35.736 But I didn't think it would affect me that much. 03:36.100 --> 03:40.100 And I stopped at mile 22 with the intent of just 03:41.180 --> 03:43.064 getting some water, pouring it on my face, 03:43.064 --> 03:44.597 getting back out there. 03:44.597 --> 03:47.142 But everything just kind of cramped. 03:47.142 --> 03:49.809 And I did not get up after that. 03:51.095 --> 03:54.766 I get to walk out in this amazing ceremony where they're 03:54.766 --> 03:58.933 playing the National Anthem, and wear USA on our jerseys. 04:00.764 --> 04:02.317 It doesn't get any better than that. 04:02.317 --> 04:06.484 So there was also that piece of disappointment in myself, 04:06.999 --> 04:09.309 like I didn't even finish this race, I was selected to 04:09.309 --> 04:13.476 represent the United States military, and I didn't finish. 04:16.189 --> 04:18.605 So I honestly did not even know that the Marine Corp 04:18.605 --> 04:21.239 Marathon was going to be available to us out here. 04:21.239 --> 04:25.269 So I let my coach know probably in the beginning, 04:25.269 --> 04:27.424 "Hey, I think they're actually gonna do it. 04:27.424 --> 04:31.591 "If I'm available, and if Mission allows, we should do this. 04:32.258 --> 04:35.407 "Let's go out and, especially the Marine Corp Marathon. 04:35.407 --> 04:38.795 "We're Marines, that's our race, this is our race." 04:38.795 --> 04:42.509 And especially knowing that, on the same day, 04:42.509 --> 04:44.902 all the girls and all the guys on the team 04:44.902 --> 04:48.404 are gonna be doing the same exact thing, it's awesome. 04:48.404 --> 04:50.150 It'll be fun to see how well they do. 04:50.150 --> 04:53.264 And knowing that, regardless of the distance, 04:53.264 --> 04:55.012 regardless of whether I'm deployed or not, 04:55.012 --> 04:59.179 we're still a team and still running together, basically. 05:00.837 --> 05:02.725 I think that is really cool, and I'm just grateful 05:02.725 --> 05:06.558 for the opportunity to run while I'm out here. 05:07.402 --> 05:11.001 I think my biggest goal is just to run a smart race. 05:11.001 --> 05:12.657 It's easier said than done. 05:12.657 --> 05:15.074 My competitiveness, your ego, 05:15.615 --> 05:18.198 being so excited to run, and so 05:19.632 --> 05:21.123 my goal is to go out there 05:21.123 --> 05:23.741 and run the first half just smart. 05:23.741 --> 05:25.908 And just run a smart race. 05:26.623 --> 05:29.628 I want to be able to hit that 20 mile mark 05:29.628 --> 05:32.343 and have something left in the tank to be like, 05:32.343 --> 05:35.703 "Okay, it's game on, let's see what I can do." 05:35.703 --> 05:37.991 I absolutely want to break tape someday. 05:37.991 --> 05:39.874 But I know more importantly than anything is 05:39.874 --> 05:41.003 it's about the time, 05:41.003 --> 05:44.336 it's about beating my own personal best. 05:48.498 --> 05:50.016 I think the most important thing for me, 05:50.016 --> 05:53.006 where I wanna see running is, kind of the same way 05:53.006 --> 05:57.173 that my dad sees running is, it's a lifelong thing. 05:57.487 --> 05:58.496 So he want... 05:58.496 --> 06:01.413 He's always been just grateful that 06:01.554 --> 06:03.879 he can go out every day and run. 06:03.879 --> 06:07.353 And I think that's where I eventually wanna 06:07.353 --> 06:11.520 just get to the point where it's something that I do. 06:12.573 --> 06:14.240 Just part of my day. 06:14.993 --> 06:17.743 Right now, I'm still competitive. 06:18.050 --> 06:21.108 I still wanna get out there and see what my body can do. 06:21.108 --> 06:24.613 I think these next coming years, I'm gonna have the 06:24.613 --> 06:27.379 capability of being in the best shape of my life. 06:27.379 --> 06:28.970 Be in a good mindset. 06:28.970 --> 06:32.803 And I just wanna see where I can take my body. 06:32.938 --> 06:36.983 The biggest issue for me will always be my mind telling me, 06:36.983 --> 06:37.906 "You aren't enough." 06:37.906 --> 06:41.573 And then me telling myself, "Yes, you are."