Slow and Steady

It's how the tortoise won the race...slow and steady. And, it's my mantra these days. It doesn't matter how the workouts get done...in 20 minutes or an hour, with a stinky attitude or a great one, with thoughts of quitting or a full-steam ahead mentality, in the morning or at night...as long as it is completed!

Two weeks ago, after a month long battle with mono, a plan was developed to get me from here to there (there being a marathon in January of 2015). I am scared to death to even suggest that I can complete a marathon without hurting myself or someone else. I am terrified of failure.

But, no one else is going to run these miles for me. I have to do it. There is no alternative. And, because I need to see progress, I use a color coding system to help me remember milestones along the way. Green means I finished the workout and got it done. Blue indicates something extra for the day. Yellow is not a good sign...the fewer the yellows, the better. I can easily have a bad workout or give up too soon and be forced to color that cell yellow. And I will let the sight of that one yellow cell ruin my day and my attitude and my hope. But, when it is encased in a sea of blue or green, I can look at it more rationally. One bad day does NOT equal giving up or stopping or even another bad day. It just means I can do better the next time.

I just learned how to create this table, and I have NO clue how to make the colors appear, but IF you could see them, you would see only green and one blue (I ran 3.25 instead of 3 while we were visiting Liberty). No yellows so far, so that is good for my psyche!

Table heading 1	Table heading 2	Table heading 3	Table heading 4	Table heading 5	Table heading 6
Run 3.1 miles	Crossfit	Crossfit	Row 1 Data 41	Run 3.1 miles	Row 4 miles
Run 3.1 miles	Crossfit	Treadmill, elliptical, rowing machine	Treadmill, elliptical, rowing machine	Crossfit	Run 3.25 miles

The only way to run a marathon is to run. And I must run at least 3 times a week. My mileage for long runs (on Saturdays) will increase beginning this summer. I am eager to get back into running and to be able to run a 5K without huffing and puffing! I know it will come, and it will take time. Slow and steady.