Sticking with it.

I finished my first 12 week Jeff Galloway session last week. This week, I started the next session. It's been pretty amazing. I've improved so gradually that I barely even noticed how much harder I was working every week.

Being part of a group has been outstanding for me. It makes the workouts go by so much faster and easier, and it's just nice knowing that somebody will notice if you're there or not.

I'm supposed to go out by myself at least once a week, and that has been gratifying in it's own way. I try to use those sessions to push a little harder, so if I'm huffing and puffing more than usual I'm not slowing anyone else. I bump up my intervals so I'm doing more running and less walking. During the runs I sometimes get so frustrated. Tonight was a super short one (I'm following a training program that dictates the number of minutes I run). I was really unhappy with the way I was feeling, telling myself that this was way harder than it should have been and it must be because I have not been trying hard enough lately. I actually felt so bad that I had flashbacks to my first week
and wondered if I had made any progress at all. Then I got home and looked at my GPS running app.

2 minutes, y'all. I shaved two minutes off my usual pace. Yeah, it's likely because of that interval bump and the fact that this was a shorter run than usual, but it's just the beginning. I'm still making progress. I saw a number I have never seen before.

I remember being in labor with Anneliese, struggling and thinking about how I'd like to quit. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, I felt like I wasn't getting anywhere. At just the right moment, my doula looked at me and said, "You're doing this, Blair." Such a simple statement, but it brought it all into perspective for me.

I am doing this.