Little Victories

I had a great run today. It was not significantly faster than all of the runs leading up to it. I did not cover more ground than normal. Looking at the numbers this workout was not significantly different in any definable way. But I noticed it. I felt it and today I am celebrating the little victories.

Today’s run was my first interval workout in almost two years. Two years ago I used a wonderful iTunes podcast set up by Coach Jeff because I did not have the discipline to make it through each and every interval. His workout podcast told me when to start and guided me through each and every interval and recovery set throughout the entire run. It acted as my discipline.

But today, I did not want to listen to the podcast. I wanted to prove to myself I would not follow my old patterns. I would not use excuses to slow down at the end of the seven minute interval. I would not use excuses to do 4 instead of 6 sets. I wanted to prove to myself that I could do all 6 sets according to plan on my own.

And I did. I plugged the workout into my Garmin and I set out for my run. Yes, I went out way too fast on the first set. I was so winded when I finished that first interval that I had already begun to make excuses why I wouldn’t be able to complete all of them. But I pushed the doubt to the side and I worked on my 2 minute recovery. I slowed down the second interval so I was solidly in Zone 4 but not pushing higher than that. And I made it through another set.

In the end, as my Garmin Forerunner 220 beeped at me letting me know it was time not for a recovery but for my cooldown I was almost disappointed. That was it. All of that build up of worry and that was all it took? Really? But then I thought about it. I thought about how mental this sport really is. How setting your mind to something can make all the difference and I knew I needed to celebrate. I needed to celebrate my discipline. I needed to celebrate my consistency. I needed to celebrate the little victories.