Just Doing It!

The road to reaching your fitness goals can be lonely sometimes. Especially when that road is a hilly one that you get dropped on by a pack of road riders that hold 20-something miles per hour in 90 degree heat and humidity.

For 8 full weeks now I've been completely mentally and physically invested in training for a 1/2 Ironman that is a mere 3 months away. While that may seem like a long time, 3 months began to feel dauntingly near during training this weekend that left me sweaty, tired, and gasping for air -- and it's only officially summer today! Which meant it dawned on me that I'm only a few pounds lighter, still slow as shit on the run and pretty sure these stumps they call legs attached to my 5'2 frame are eventually going to fly off as I continue to try to keep riding the hills of Tallahassee at a desperate pace with the maniacs on bikes I've been riding with!

A hard week of training concluded on Sunday with 3 hours of training: 2 1/2 hours in the saddle, 38.2 miles, and a 30 minute run that had me dangerously close to puking several times. I spent the rest of the day feeling pretty down and like I'm kidding myself that I'll ever make it to Augusta in September and completing a 1/2 Ironman.

When I get low like this, when I'm beating myself up about my performance, instead of being a miserable negative beast, I've learned to dig into the positive influences -- friends, family, coaches and training partners -- that I have smartly and somewhat luckily been able to surround myself with as I continue this journey. It's a huge step for me to ask for help, get reassurance and keep going rather than throwing in the towel and quitting. In the past that's the route I've chosen and of course it's an easier one.

But sometimes you also need a slightly more jarring reminder of why you do what you do....which is why stumbling upon this Livestrong promo today thanks to a friend's Facebook post, couldn't have been more appropos.

Watching this reminded me why I'm doing this, challenging myself to this extent to do something that I never thought I could do, and frankly, some days still question if I will do.

This helped me remember that I'm not necessarily doing this to be the best or fastest -- as I am sometimes am at fault for beating myself up relentlessly for not being either one! But you gotta just do it! Especially for those who can't, or more aptly put, for those who have a much bigger challenge than getting through a race that you've trained for. There's no training for the race they're enduring, and as someone who's witnessed the battle firsthand, it's a good reminder to ignore that monkey on my back and get off my ass and quit feeling sorry for myself when the going gets tough!!!