Reality Check

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Since the last post I've had some time to think.  During the half marathon while I was walking I swore that after the race I wouldn't be disappointed about the race.  My mentor tried to convince me that I'd finished the half marathon but I didn't really want to hear it at that moment (sorry Run-stine).  After I got home and spent more time thinking about it I realized I wasn't disappointed I was angry at myself for not finishing stronger.  Until I talked to Mark (my cousin who ran the same race) and he reminded me that it wasn't all about the race.  He sent me this quote:

The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel are the things that endure.
These qualities are so much more important than the events that occur.
-Vince Lombardi

He also told me that he signed up to run the race so that he could be there to celebrate the journey with me.  We'd traded email/text/phone calls during our training and the messages were pretty similar.  We couldn't believe how far we'd come.  It should come as no surprise that we were both astonished at how well we did during our 10 mile runs.  Prior to 8-10 months ago we weren't runners.  At all.  The fact that we've come this far is an amazing journey.  When the going to rough we didn't quit - even on race day when everything hurt I didn't stop, I didn't wait for the sag wagon to pick me up.  I covered the distance and that is remarkable.

I'm sure you're wondering why I'm telling you this?  Well, it's two-fold really.  For one, people don't necessarily talk about how hard a half marathon will be.  There is talk of how great it will be and you'll feel so great when you cross the finish line.  That's all true, don't get me wrong, but the big part is that it doesn't matter HOW you cross the finish line that matters.  Whether you run, walk or crawl the fact that you did it all is the part to celebrate!

The other reason I'm sharing this is because the theme at the Weight Watchers meeting is about routines.  It seems easier to adapt a new routine (e.g. pack a snack) than to stop being so hard on myself about things that I think don't measure up.  So that's the routine I'm going to work on (see how this all comes back to what I learned at Weight Watchers this week?) to try to be better to myself.

What routine do you want to work on?