So, I'm really good at setting goals for myself. Like, I'm pretty much an expert at it. I have great lofty ideas of goals that I can set, that will jump start my fitness/weight loss journey and in a year or two I'll look back and be amazed at how far I've come. Sounds great right? Well, problem is that my life isn't like a movie that I can fast forward and get to the end without sticking with it day to day. So I get a few weeks into my new amazing goal, or a month or two if I'm exceptionally motivated, and then something happens, or I slip, and I just give it all up. I call a do-over, give up on any progress that I've made, and end up worse off than when I started.
Well, they stay the first step is recoginizing the problem, and that you have it of course ;-), so the trick now is how to deal with that part of me. Because, trust me, after 28 years, it ain't going away any time soon. I have always pretty much focused on the things that I can't do because I'm overweight, and the things that I could do in the future if I was fit. And there is the problem. I think too much about what I could do later instead of what I can do now! Ah Hah! Problem solved right? Well, almost.
A few of my friends from church had been training for/and completed their first (I think) 5K a few weeks ago. That's awesome! If I wasn't so overweight, I could do that.......tsk, tsk, there goes that old problem again. So, one of the 5K vets posted a Facebook event, inviting anyone who would, to participate in a 5K in June, on my daughter's birthday to be exact.
Anyway, I noticed that the invite said "...5k run and 2k run/walk". Hmmm, interesting. I googled "how long is a 2k run", because of course "The Google" knows everything that I should have learned in school ;-), and I found out it's only 1.5 miles! Well, I could probably do that in a little over 2 months! Even if I had to walk the whole way, I know I could do that! And then it all clicked into place. Instead of trying to lose weight and increase my fitness so I could meet some lofty goal at the end of the journey, or set "pounds lost" intermediate goals, which let's face it is really hard to completely control 100%, why not set a goal for something I could do now, but try to do it better! Work toward a goal that I can SEE improvement at every day! I can't step on the scale everyday and trust the number, because weight naturally fluctuates. I can't see everyday improvement for a goal that I can only complete at the end of the journey. But I CAN see how far I have run/walked and how fast, every time I do it! I can control how fast my body moves, and for how long. I can do this!!!
Since my husband and I signed up for the 2K, which is small potatoes for him though he has lovingly decided to train with me at my pace every step of the way, we have seen small improvements after every training session! We are actually spending more time together as a family, versus when I joined a gym and weight watchers I felt like I was neglecting them because I was home so late after work. We are getting a lot more fresh air, even though it's been super cold so far. And I am actually moving my body!
So here's the deal. Motivation for me comes from a reachable goal, noticible improvement/success, and accountability. I am accountable to my family since they are training with me. I am acountable to everyone else running because I have told everyone that I can do it, and we're almost up to the mileage already, can't quit now! And I'm accountable to myself, because I KNOW that I can do this, and there is no excuse. So here's another way to be accountable. I'm going to blog at least once a week to "brag" about our progress. We've tried to remember to take a picture after every session, so I'll probably try to post those too. And at the end, after the 2K, I'll start posting leading up to the 5K in October. That's right!
But I'm concentrating on the 2K for now......so here are our stats for our last run/walk:
Length: 31.23 min
Distance: 1.41 miles (see, almost to 1.5 already!!)
Avg Pace: 22:15
Avg Speed: 2.70
