Be an AHB Rockstar: Megan Week 5.
Week 5 brought some new challenges that Kathleen wasn’t expecting, as life often does… How do you deal with challenges and obstacles in your life?
It’s a common misconception that when things are going great- they’re going to continue on that trend. When you’re chugging along, picking up steam and liking the results why WOULDN’T this path just continue? Seems logical, right?
Turns out- thinking that way will only get you so far. No matter how awesome the road ahead of you seems to be going, there’s going to be turns, twists and bumps. There will be obstacles, and situations that make you throw up your hands and say “I’m done.” But how you stop and handle them is where your greatness can really shine through.
Let’s take it back to Thanksgiving. The alarm went off at 5:30 am for my last 5K of the season and I woke up feeling different. I wasn’t as nervous (aka I didn’t almost throw up my pre race English Muffin) as I had been for my previous races and I felt almost, dare I say… excited?
While this was my fourth 5K since September, I had yet to run an entire race from beginning to end. The “hitting the wall” that people refer to when talking about running would happen somewhere between mile 2 and 3, and there seemed to be nothing that I could do to stop it. But as with my pushup situation, this just wasn’t acceptable to me anymore. So for the last few weeks I’ve been putting in the extra effort, running with the AHB group, and I knew that my running had gotten stronger. That morning I was determined to give it all I had. I set a good pace, I had a great playlist in my ears, and I soon found myself enjoying the route and the company of other runners. Mile 2 passed, and I was shocked at how great I still felt. The realization that this might actually happen set in and the adrenaline took over. Mile 2 turned into mile 3 and before I knew it, my sneakers were crossing the finish line. Prior to this moment, just the fact that I was entering these races was a phenomenal feeling. And now that I had just pushed myself to complete something that 6 months ago seemed absolutely impossible? It could be the greatest feeling I’ve ever experienced. It took all my willpower to not bear hug the poor sweaty soul next to me at the finish line. (They should probably be pretty thankful for that.)
Riding my runner’s high 🙂
I continued to ride this high for the rest of my long weekend. And by ride, I actually mean run because I went for a run again on Friday, Saturday, AND Sunday. 10 miles in 4 days? I’m sorry, but who kidnapped Kathleen and replaced her with this girl? And despite the fact that it was a holiday weekend of family, friends, and eating I went into my Monday meeting with Maisie feeling pretty confident. That is until the scale showed that I had only lost 1 pound. The high I had been running off of from Thursday disappeared in a cloud of frustration. This back and forth business is disappointing, annoying and is beginning to make me wonder how much more I can take.
At this point I can take one of two paths. I can say, “This is as good as it’s going to get” and accept my body the way it is now (which, don’t get my wrong, I’m incredibly proud of). Or I can take a timeout, work through the positives and negatives of the past week, and learn from my experiences. This journey isn’t just a 12 week quick fix – it’s a life change. And therefore not all of the obstacles I face are going to fit nice and neatly into one box of answers.
So I’m putting this all into perspective. I’ve already accomplished some amazing things. I look and feel like a completely different person from a year ago. I’m making changes that I know will have a lifelong impact. And despite the occasional bumps such as this one, I wake up every day incredibly proud of myself. Even rockstars have less than stellar performances once in a while. It’s only human. But how they pick themselves back up shows how truly great they are 🙂
Ashley Simpson post getting caught lip-syncing on SNL… see even Rockstars (if she can be considered that) have bad days!
# of sarcastic eye rolls towards Alicia:Â 3! Apparently behavior modification charts DO work?!
# of days I logged my meals:Â 0. Factor to look into regarding my 1 pound loss?
# of times I ate chicken:Â 2
# of “real pushups”: Too many to count! Woohoo!
Be Healthy. Be Balanced.
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