I'm proud of my husband for many reasons. And one of those reasons is that he's that guy who sets a goal and actually works towards achieving it, rain or shine. Believe me, people, it's admirable and annoying all at once.
One of the goals he's set for himself this year is to run a half marathon. He and I share the same blah attitude/let's-just-order-a-Roundtable-pizza-tonight-instead towards running but like I said, when my husband sets a goal, there's no stopping his efforts towards the finish line. He's officially training with a good friend of ours who runs so much we not-so-secretly believe he's half cheetah.
I'm very excited and inspired by my husband's endeavor to run and get healthy for the 2014 year. So inspired that yes, I actually dragged myself out of bed at 5:30 AM one morning to tag along with him and our trainer/cheetah friend. There's a beautiful trail that's perfect for these early morning runs/torture sessions. The 43 degree air grazed my face and hands as I jogged behind them and on more than one occasion I almost spazzed out as my eyes caught sight of a skunk or two in the distance along the winding, gravel trail.
I wasn't interested in starting off the new year having been farted on by a vengeful skunk at 6:30 in the morning.
We slowly started jogging. And though I'm not a runner, I couldn't help but notice an interesting pattern. Once I stopped whining internally, and actually got into the groove of pacing my breathing and each step, the running wasn't so bad (Did I just say that?!?!) despite the freezing cold air, the uncertainty of the dark, early morning, and possible threat of a cranky skunk.
Sure it still hurt, still was painfully exhausting and uncomfortable but at the same time, it simply felt good to move.
I actually warmed up and grew a desire to keep moving through the exhaustion, through each inclining step, through the uncomfortable cold, winter air. Versus during our "walk" moments where my internal whining would start revving up in my head again, my feet longed to turn right around and go back to the comfort of the car, the cold air encouraging me towards the comfort of sleeping and the idea of not stepping out to do this again.
Perhaps this is a way to see not only goal setting in 2014, but goal doing.
I really hope that in 2014, during the occasional times of bitter-cold air, painful and exhausting inclining steps, and threatening skunk farts along the path towards the proverbial finish line , that I remember it's always a better choice to move forward imperfectly towards whatever the goal is than to stand still in doubt or comfort. Even more so, I hope to remind others of that, too.
Happy Monday!