Bear with me for a minute while I give you some background. There is a point to this story!
I mentioned in an earlier post that my Father-in-law (Budge) was training me. He is 69 years old, bikes competitively, and was a phys ed teacher (he has a masters for it, too). The man knows what he is doing. I have a great deal of respect for him.
Several days a week I drive the 22 minutes from our house, walk on his treadmill for an hour, and drive the 22 minutes back. I walk locally on the other days (I take Fridays off). Budge has a plan for me each and every day, mixing distance, endurance and interval training. Each day is different and I have a plan every day to follow. The Hour and 45 minutes is a big hole in my day, but I do it, because I am worth it.
He rides his bike next to me every day. He has a contraption where he rides but the bike stands upright and doesn't move (obviously). Every day we watch a different bike race. I mean a Tour de France type of race. Long races -- each of the days of the race are over 100 miles of biking.I have been going there for 6 weeks -- I am now conversant in bike lingo, races, gear -- you name it. My FIL is a walking cycling/racing encyclopedia, and he shares with me all the time. And you know what? I actually enjoy this!
Okay, this is where we get to the meat of what I have been thinking about today...
Yesterday, my task was to warm up, then walk three miles at the pace he set, then cool down, for a total walk of 3.5 miles. One hour of walking or less, depending on my heart rate and pace. Really, a cakewalk, considering that it is what I have been doing lately. The only problem is that I got into the walk, and after 1/2 mile of walking at pace, I just felt like I couldn't walk another step. My head was screaming at me to STOP!!!
So I made a deal with myself. Just walk another 1/2 mile. Just work through it. And I did. I made another deal. Just walk another half mile...and when I got to that point, I had an epiphany.
Here I am, just on a treadmill, just walking, watching these bikers. They are cycling 100 miles a day! What is wrong with me that I can't force myself to walk just 3 stinkin' miles?
You know what? That motivated me. I walked those three miles.
And today, when I was walking outside and had another of those "Maybe-I-will-just-walk-only-two-miles-instead-of-the-whole-enchilada" moments, I thought of those racers. And I walked the whole enchilada, plus an extra quarter mile just for good measure.
From now on, I think I will use the racers to keep me going. I am going to visualize them every time I hit that wall. If they can bike 100 miles, then I can certainly do my walk and get through it!
My question to you is this: What keeps you going? What do you use when you hit the wall? Please share it with me!
Okay, now for the quick update. Last week I lost two pounds, and this week, 1 pound -- for a total weight loss of 28 pounds. I just can't wait to get to 30!
