It's all in the mind - believe to achieve x

18^th September 2011

Accept the challenges so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory.

I did it, I can't believe it. Started the C25k running app on my phone on the 9th August, I didn't tell anyone at first because I didn't think I'd stick with it because I suffer with joint pain and have had a bad back for years and I’ve always thought running was for crazy folk. This morning was nothing like that first morning when I was relieved to stop after the first minute of running and wanted to go home.  Even five weeks in I was still hating the first ten to fifteen minutes of every run and my opinions of the whole challenge seemed to change daily; on week fou,r day 2 I wrote “Get me!! Whoop whoop ;) half way thru 9wks, didn't stop on last run & did 15 mins straight” I can honestly say I felt like Rocky that morning  ;-) then two days later on week four day 3 I wrote “Hardest yet, made me realise how easy it can be to quit even something u really want - but I won't” then on week six day three I've written “woohoo I feel ace”.

This morning when I left the house I was so tired, I’ve had a full on week, drove over 100 miles yesterday, then Alfie woke me every fifteen minutes from 5ish until at 6ish I admitted defeat and got up.  I'd walked him already for 50 minutes and as I left the house I thought to myself I'll do wk7 d2 which is a 25min run, then two minutes into my warm up I remembered today is the Great North Run  and one of my members is doing it, I thought they're all doing a half marathon surely I could try to do my first 5k so I did, I set my app to distance and went for it.  I ran half on road and half on trail and struggled first ten minutes as always but then got into a flow and started to feel good and enjoy it, finally though I was glad when the last km was over, it took me 35 1/2 minutes, which I'm happy with.

Undertaking this challenge has made me mentally strong, it's made me realise I can do anything I set out to and put my mind too, with a bit of hard work. Nothing worth having comes easy ;/)

So if you’ve been struggling to stay focused and on track with your weight loss journey lately, remember you can do it, and the journey never ends.  Just because I’ve managed the 5k once doesn’t mean I need to stop, and it doesn’t mean I’ll easily be able to cover that distance every time I leave the house. 

EFFORT – that’s what we all need to put into anything, if we want to get something back. 

So I’ve put my effort in today, the rest of the day I’m chilling, was going to do a little work but it’ll wait till tomorrow, I’m going to cook myself a nice lamb tagine using a jar mix that one of my lovely members gave me, and I’ll serve it with couscous, the rest of the day is all about catching up on tv, and I want to watch the Great North Run too.

Who knows I may get a burst of energy later and come back to the office, no plans, it’s Sunday.

Enjoy your day.