Disappointed but not Discouraged

As many here may have read over the recent weeks, I have an ultimate goal of running a marathon. Will I ever do it, who knows – but it’s a goal.

 

For the last two weeks I’ve been at the gym, on the treadmill, and extremely happy with the progress. Farther then I expected.

 

Today I went outside and decided to job around a track. Folks state to “really run" you need to do it outside.

 

Well all I could do was a quarter mile. And I did it in 2 1/2 minute. It was much harder than the treadmill (which I did almost 8 minutes yesterday). It was a major blow. How could this be?!?!?!??!!?

 

While this setback was disheartening, it has also made me more determine.

 

This got me thinking, it’s just like Weight Loss Surgery. Many of us expect to be farther along than we are. And what we need to remember is, there is NO TIME LINE. No place does it say we will hit our goal in X amount of time. Only WE put TIME LIMITS on OUR GOALS and we SHOULDN’T.

 

Remember, this long race. EVENTUALLY we WILL CROSS that finish line. The time we do it is not important. Just crossing the line is the important part.

 

So in this instance, 5K WATCH OUT. ONE DAY I WILL CONQUER YOU!!!

 

For Weight Loss goal, WATCH OUT ALSO !! SOME DAY I WILL CONQUER YOU!!

 

Maybe a little longer than originally thought, but who cares.

Hi Tom...be proud of yourself! You are so right that there is no time limit on our goals...but you HAVE goals and are working on them consistently. I have NO doubt that you will not only accomplish your goals but will exceed them. You always have such wonderful words of wisdom and encouragement for everyone else...I am glad to see that even though you're a bit bummed out you can turn that around into a positive determination for yourself and share it with the rest of us. Rock ON Tom or should I say Run ON!! Great post...thanks so much. Leslie

Hi Tom, keep up the good work. It will get easier. I think that the first time i tried jogging outside one minute alone of jogging was a killer. My legs felt like they were on fire but i just kept plugging along. Next thing i new i was able to do 3 mins, 5 mins, then 10 mins. Eventually i was able to do a whole mile of just jogging-that felt great. You'll get there! Yesterday i bought a new pair of running shoes that i plan on using for my 1/2 marathon. I was very anxious to try them out and go do a jog. So today i was up by 0530 this morning. I did my 20 minutes of yoga and then i headed out.(in my pre-band life i NEVER rolled out of bed on the weekends i was off until after 12-waking up at the crack of dawn by choice was unheard of). I did 7 miles outside in 2 hours.  Last weekend i was able to do 8 miles on the treadmill in 2hrs so yes there is a difference but i am glad to say that i probably jogged about 90% of the distance with only a handfull of walks in between. I have now done several long runs (6 miles or more) once per week and the main thing i have noticed is that I am building endurance. The first time i did a long run, my legs felt like noodles afterwards and i was super sore for 2 days after. Now my legs no longer feel like noodles and my legs are only sore for about 1 day. Keep plugging along and maybe one day we can do a 1/2 marathon together. Yadira

Hi Tom!

Yes, running outside is MUCH harder than on a treadmill! My trainer said it was wind resistence...and you don't go nearly as fast as you feel you do when you are on a treadmill, so it is psychological, too, I think...

...good comparison about goals...as always, you are a fantastic support on this site!
Take care and good luck!
C