It would have been incredibly easy to find lots of excuses tonight. It's cold, it's dark, it's icy, maybe it's not safe...the list goes on and on. In addition to that, the fire in the wood stove was very inviting. It's easy to find excuses and I'm good at it. Then there is procrastination and I'm a master at that. "I'll go after I work on report cards (yeah, those still aren't finished). I could just clean the bathroom. Maybe I should do some Christmas shopping." The truth is there are reasons to not run everywhere you turn, especially during busy times of the year. Instead of letting those excuses deter me any longer than the half hour of time I wasted, I changed, grabbed my headlamp and reflective vest and headed out.
When I first got out I was slightly annoyed with myself that I took on this challenge. Why do I do these things to myself, I thought. If I quit now I'll be letting someone down. Just before the end of my 3 miles I realized that when I skip a run or a workout the only person that I'm letting down is myself. When I had to bow out of the Boston Marathon a couple of years ago I was so worried that people would think I was a quitter. It occurred to me that I felt like a quitter, but other people probably didn't give it that much thought at all. Skipping runs for silly reasons has been disappointing me for awhile now. This challenge is really helping me get back on track. I am definitely my own worst critic.
As I finished the last quarter mile before my house I felt like I was running Reach the Beach. It was cold, it was dark, I was alone, at moments it felt unsafe. Then I realized those excuses don't stop me in September. Just imagine how prepared I'd be if I trained in those conditions all the time!
Tomorrow morning's 5 am running date could be a whole different story. My warm bed usually beats out just about anything!
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