Just tell yourself...

I remember those physical fitness tests that we had to do in grade-school. There was the run (too many laps around the gymnasium to count), the sit-ups, the chin-ups, the jumping, the dreaded arm-hang and a bunch of other physical fitness tests that were tallied up and at the end of it all, you got a bronze, silver, gold or nothing, depending on your level of fitness in that category.

I don't ever remember being "bad" at these tests, but I certainly don't remember being very "good" either. I recall getting a silver badge once, a few bronze badges, no gold ones that I can recall...

I was a very fat, chubby kid. Seriously. So chubby the neighbour at the beach asked my mom one day, "Bernice, what are you feeding those kids?". I was in the cabin in the bedroom and my mom and the neighbour were talking right outside the bedroom window. I didn't mean to listen. I never told a soul that I had heard. It took me years to forget it.

Back to these dreaded fitness tests...I remember asking my mom about these tests one day, when I must have been in about grade 6 or so. I asked her how to prepare for them and she told me the simplest answer. "Just tell yourself what you are going to do." I think I was asking about the sit-ups and she said to think of a number of how many I thought I could do in the alloted 60 seconds and then strive for that number in the test.

Looking back, and even as I write this...I realize...
MY MOM IS A GENIUS!!

Her advice works!

Last night I told myself, "Tomorrow, you are going to run two hours." I have not yet been training to my potential...and I need to step it up in a big way! Running an hour is easy for me, at a nice easy pace. (My only pace.) But running two hours...now that's a stretch if I have not been running. It's my way of pushing my body to remember what it can do. The muscles will remember. They want to. But my brain gets lazy and puts up all kinds of excuses...before and during the run!

So...I just told myself - you're running two hours. One hour out. One hour back. This morning when I woke up, I knew what I had to do and it was so much easier b/c I had told myself what we were doing.

It was a gorgeous run from start to finish. Sunny. Quite warm. A perfect day! I finished my run at the park, just a block away from my home. I ran on this boardwalk and couldn't believe the beauty as I ran up, looking out at the lake! It was so breath-taking that when I finished my run, I had to get my camera and walk back to this spot to take a few photos. It was simply stunning!

Those days of being chubby, fat and uncomfortable as a child are gone. But I still feel that way at times. The extra 5 pounds I'm carting with me everywhere I go rightnow can put me into a tailspin easily. Especially when my favourite pants are a bit tight! (Yes...I still have my sights set on that 6-pack...and I'm going to get there! This is the year! This is the summer! On or before my 8th Ironman race on August 29th, 2010. I'm going to show the world my 6 pack!)

The question came to me when I was running, "How long am I going to let those same 5, 10, or 15 pounds influence and affect my life?"

Good question! It's time to get serious, tell myself what I truly want and then go after it! A friend said to me the other day, "Don't just be interested in something...get passionate about it!" Wow!

It's time!

Mom - thank you for your simple genius advice! I love you.
Crystal