I'm so sorry that I've done a terrible job of keeping up with everyone's posts lately. Like
Jen, my training has been "off" -- though in my case, I've basically missed pretty much the whole month of October (aside from one half marathon). This happens to me every year, though, because my work hours skyrocket as we prepare for a huge tradeshow we have in November. I have to remind myself of that because
every year I prepare to drop out of the WDW races, then I dust myself off, take a hard look at my schedule and the calendar, and get back on track. I did Goofy last January, so I know I can definitely recover. On Monday I did my first 16-miler since January (I was home with the kids on a teacher workday) and I felt pretty good, though I barely made the sub-16-minute average that Disney demands. Still, I should be fine if I don't let the negative voices get the best of me. (Sounds like you battle those too,
Sunny. Goofy is doable, especially if you include some back-to-back long walks/runs/whatever over the next couple of months.)
I've been thinking a lot about a couple of the posts. One was a post (can't find it now!) about someone being so stoked about staying on track because of the benefits she knew it would pay on race day.
My nutritionist says
staying focused on the rewards of our lifestyle changes is the best way to stay highly motivated. In essence, thats what motivation is, isnt it? Being so interested in getting to what we want for ourselves
that nothing can sway us. When we focus on the benefits we will get (tiny ones like that small victory of seeing the scale budge, as well as bigger ones like race PRs and lower blood pressure and longer lives), then we focus less on the food we are bypassing. What is [fill in the blank with tempting food] compared to that?!?!?
I also related to the impatience several of us are having with our progress, and thought something Id read lately (in an email newsletter from 100dayschallenge.com) on that topic made a lot of sense. It says
You don't have to see results to know they are happening
When I was a young child, my mother fastened a tape measure to the back of our family room door. About once a month, she would have me stand next to the tape, then lay a ruler on top of my head and determine how much I'd grown since the last measurement.
Since kids grow in spurts and stops, it wasn't uncommon to have many months go by without showing any changes in my height. Now suppose my mother got frustrated with the lack of results, and angrily stomped out of the room saying, "It's not working. No matter how hard I try, you're just not growing. Since you aren't getting any taller, I think I'll just quit feeding you."
Of course, she never did this. Most people understand that changes in a human body take time, and that not seeing results doesn't mean that things aren't happening.
Things are happening -- maybe not as fast as we'd like, but good behavior is always rewarded over time. It's a "natural law," a law of physics -- sooner or later the scale will budge if we are sticking to our plan.
Gotta hit the treadmill. Have a great day!
)
Awesome weigh in!
Why do we always have to lose it there, of all places?
Sarasota FL so I need to get my rear in gear quick.
