Days 288-289: New Inspiration

Day 288:  Yesterday I went to a Core Power Sculpt class.  No surprise there.  However, I did manage to shock the living daylights out of myself during class.  Typically I am one of the first people to arrive at a studio because I think having my first pick of mat placement in class affects my practice deeply (anyone else do this?).  Unfortunately it did not work that way yesterday.  I was running uber late and ended up having to squeeze into a corner.  This would not have been a bad thing, except the corner was right next to the heater/humidifier that heated up the entire room.  I noticed this 10 minutes into class when my yoga mat that is known for its’ sweat-wicking abilities, was no longer wicking.  It. Was. Soaked.  Normally I would have used this unfortunate corner heat situation as an excuse to say, “go easy Bets, it’s damn hot!,” but instead, I allowed myself to be inspired by the two women next to me who were not phased by this in the slightest bit.  In fact, they were the two overachievers in class who set the standard higher for the other 40 people.  I tried by best to follow suit.

When I came home I drank 4 glasses of water and took an ice-cold shower.  My body was spent, but my mind was proud of my ability to look past my excuses and dig a little deeper.   So thank you to those strangers on the mats next to me that made me realize all that I am capable of during a time when I was blinded (by sweat, of course).

Day 289:  My pal and Bonza Body trainer extraordinaire, Jamie Atlas, gave me a bridal workout schedule and nutrition guide to follow for the next 3.5 weeks.  He told me to ramp up my runs to 50-60 minutes three times per week leading up to the wedding.  Not many things could pull me away from my scuplting obsession lately, except for a badass trainer telling me what could potentially lean me down.  Challenge accepted.

Today I ran 5.5 miles to Wash Park, around the perimeter and home.  I even took a different path to make it feel fresh.  During my run I tried to keep my mind as far from wedding details as I could.  I decided to think about my goals.  Where do I want to be in life in 10 years?  How am I going to get there?  What sort of visuals were popping up for me?  It was awesome. Beautiful.  Plentiful.  And most importantly, it inspired me to keep going and preoccupied my busy mind.

Day 177: Own Your Decisions

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.