Week 2 Day 2

Wednesday. Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes.
With no rain in the forecast and cooler temperatures today, I was excited to get out there. I created a new "running mix" of songs from my iPhone, so I was ready to go. Since I'm getting used to my route, I knew how far I had to go before I was halfway. I knew I could do it today. Well, not like I was going to give up anyway! 
That is a good tip and a good reminder not just for myself, but for everyone: Eliminate the phrase "I can't" from your vocabulary. Eliminate it! When I tried exercising in the past, I would look at what I set out to do and think, "I can't do that...I will never be that good." And it never failed, I would give up, and I would be left disappointed. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you say "I can't," well, you won't. If you say, "I CAN," you will! When I first looked at the C25k program, I looked ahead to the later weeks to see what I would eventually have to do. Week 5 has you running 5 minutes straight, then walking for 3 minutes. "I can't do that!" I thought to myself. Well of course I can't...right now anyway! I was only on week 1! When I get to week 5, I will be able to do it. 


I think people do that often, not just in working out, but in life. They will look ahead to where they have to end up, and think they can't do it. Well of course you can't, because you're not ready yet. Everything in life is a journey. You can't go from being an entry level employee to being the CEO the next day. You can't lose 40 pounds in a day (or even a week). You can't graduate high school or college after your first day. It's all because you're not ready. Everything takes time and practice. Instead of looking ahead to where you need to end up and think "I can't get there," or "I can't do that," look only to the next step you need to take. Trying to reach the end right from the beginning is impossible, but trying to reach your next step is not. Like the advice my cousin Linda gave me before I started this journey: Go slow, stay confident, don't give up, and don't be afraid to repeat some weeks if you have to. It's OK. As long as you are out there doing it, you're out-doing your old self who thought "I can't do that." You CAN do it. 


OK, so this was more of an inspirational post than a "what I experienced on my run today" post, but I think it's necessary to motivate and inspire yourself and others too. Motivation and inspiration is what keeps us going, keeps us honest, keeps us "out there" instead of on the couch (or bench, if you prefer a more sports-related analogy). Can't wait for Friday's run...see you then!