Day 177: Before today, I could not remember the last time that I had a great run. The kind of run that leaves me happy with my time, distance and amount of tiredness throughout the run. Lately I have been allowing my excuses to get in the way of making any progress. Some of the most common excuses that I use are, “I didn’t sleep well last night, I’m too tired, I haven’t eaten enough, I have eaten too much, I have too much to do, It’s too hot/cold/windy, etc.” The list could go on and on…it really exhausts me to think about. These lame excuses have caused my running progress to come to a screeching halt this past month.
Today, I made the choice not to let whatever excuse popped up in my head affect my run. I wanted to run 5.5 miles and I was going to do it well. There comes a point in my run where I can make a turn at the park into the smaller loop, which would make it 3.5 miles or continue on the outside to make it 5.5. I chose the longer distance. As I was plugging along at my 9.25 pace I was passed by a woman running the pace I aspire to keep, then I passed a darling running Mother with her stroller and dog and finally a woman in her 70s that was stronger than most women I know in their 20s. These women all represented something that I want in my life; a faster pace, a healthy family and a never-ending need for fitness.
Someone recently asked me how I know that the decision I’ve made is the right one. I know when I’ve chosen well, because the things I want are on the same path as me. Everything seems to align in a way that tells me, “you got it sista!” So the next time I try to bail on the long run, I will keep in my mind the three women who inspired me today and continue to look for things that inspire me every step of the way.
365 Days, 365 Workouts 