And normally I would apologize for being a "Negative Nancy" but I promised myself that I would be real about my struggles and hard times, accomplishments and easy days. I was going to delete it, but decided against it. It will serve a purpose later down the road. I will not let a difficult day go to waste...
Yesterday (Tuesday) was really just one of those days... it just didn't get off to the right foot. My head was all over the place and I felt like I just couldn't FOCUS.
When I got home after work, I knew I still had to work out, even though I didn't want to at all. But after all that talk about SMART goals, I didn't want to let you (or myself) down. I had to push through.
First of all, I broke up with the treadmill a couple weeks ago, with my first run outside which you can read about here. So my run yesterday, with a goal of 2 miles, started out like an awkward run-in (pun intended) with a dreaded ex.
Straight up? It was as struggle! I wanted to quit after the first half mile. But I told myself that the first mile is always the hardest. But it didn't get easier. After the first mile, I was ready to quit. Then I realized something... I had the chance to beat my usual 15 min pace by a whole minute! I sprinted as fast as I could just to beat the clock... Then walked a bit after that first mile.
I then decided I was going to push myself through this second mile... I sprinted for about 20 seconds, scaled back the pace for about a minute, and then would walk. My pace averaged between 12 min/miles-7min/miles, and walking was about 20 min/mile. And I was able to beat my time!!
*Whoo hoo* party dance right here* oh yeah*
So even though it was tough, I was proud of myself because I stuck with it. I pushed myself, even though I just wanted to quit. I felt slow, but I reminded myself:
I'M STILL FASTER THAN ANYONE SITTING ON THE COUCH
Then I started thinking about my other tough days.... like DAY 1. I couldn't even run for a minute, and here I am, able to run for almost 10 minutes. And even though I have to walk a lot, I can still finish up 2 miles. My struggle yesterday was nothing compared to the struggle on DAY 1.
So what, I had a bad workout. It was still a workout. So what, I thought I'd be a lot faster by now. I'm still running.
And then it dawned on me. I AM A RUNNER. The same struggles that I read about in other blogs (tough workouts, stressful days, slow pace), I was experiencing. Yeah, it's all relative and some bloggers' "slow pace" is my goal pace, it's sill a personal struggle that we are all working to get through.
As fate would have it, I saw this quote today on Facebook, and of course shared it with my FB and Twitter fam:
Tomorrow is another day, and I'm going to run. Because I am a runner.
What a great quote! "I never met a fake runner" --I'll remember that one!
ReplyDeleteWhen you're on the treadmill, do you put a towel over the screen? If you don't--it helps! Knowing the time/miles is good, but not when it's stalking you or starring you in the face!
GREAT job on beating your time! Isn't it great to look back (at the good, bad, and the ugly) and see how far you come? I'm so excited for you, and you should know I always get pumped after reading your posts:)
Good job pushing through! We all have to do that sometimes. And mixing it up on the treadmill definitely helps.
ReplyDeleteLove this. I hate the treadmill too so I'm glad you were able to find something POSITIVE while you're on it!!
ReplyDeleteI read the Bart Yasso quote yesterday too and loved it.
I find breaking up with the treadmill to be really difficult. I love "I'm still faster than sitting on the couch." I will have to remember that when I am complaining about how slow I am.
ReplyDeleteSo true---"I'm still faster than sitting on the couch". Love it!
ReplyDelete