This was on my Charles F. Stanley perpetual calendar yesterday, and I just had to share, as I thought it fit me a bit. Maybe you can find some wisdom in it too?
"Those who have succeeded have not internalized their failures. They have not thought less of themselves personally for having failed. They have refused to think of themselves as failures or worthless. Failure is something they have done but not something they are. This is a huge difference. In some cases, failures have spurred them on to try harder or to explore new avenues. Those who allow failure to be internalized often give up in their failures and refuse to take the risk of failing again. One of the most important lessons you will ever learn is this: failure is something you do, not something you are."
I really needed to read that, as I have been feeling like a failure for switching to the 10K instead of the 25K. I've felt like I set this big goal, made it very public (it was in the DeMeester family Christmas letter, for Pete's sake!), and now I'm not fulfilling on it. I was feeling like I was a failure for that.
However, in seeing this, it's helped me to understand that I'm not a failure for changing my goal. I'm still reaching for something that was beyond my grasp 6 months ago. I'm still doing something many of my peers can't do (or maybe don't want to do! LOL!). I'm still doing something to better myself and stretch myself... to remind me I'm alive and blessed with the health to set a goal like a 10K. And, no one says I can't run longer later.. I plan to...just not on May 8.
:-)
So, I hope that post might speak to you like it spoke to me. If you internalize, like I've been known to - KNOCK IT OFF! :-) Failure is something we do, not something we are! :-)
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Friday, April 9, 2010
Race toward 40...becomes a crawl!
Hey, all!
I have heard your requests to update my blog - and I am doing it! :-) I was way past due and I knew it. Thanks to those of you who called me on it. You know who you are! :-)
So, I made the switch officially a few weeks ago from the 25K to the 10K. I admitted that 25K was too much for me to bite off at this time in my life and the 10K would be much more manageable.
However, then I did a very bad thing...and I sort of coasted! I had it in my head that 10K would be a piece of cake and I could back off a little in my efforts. BIG Mistake!
I should have kept going full speed ahead, as I've realized several times in the last week. I get up and run some mornings before work, but because of when I roll out of bed, I may only have time to run for 20 minutes. Then when I should be getting in my longer runs, I haven't planned well and life got in my way... (If you fail to plan, you plan to fail...I know!)
So, this week, I ran two miles Monday, 3 miles last night, and I will go for 4 tomorrow. I may walk just a bit, but I'll do it. Next week, I need to get a 5 mile in.... I'm going now for a minimum of 3 miles every other day. I can do that!
Consistency is going to get me to race day - and I plan to finish that 10K STRONG! :-)
Thanks for hanging with me, for encouraging me, for listening to my whine, and for holding me accountable when I slack! I appreciate it!
Check back this weekend! I'll post after my 4 tomorrow!
Angie
I have heard your requests to update my blog - and I am doing it! :-) I was way past due and I knew it. Thanks to those of you who called me on it. You know who you are! :-)
So, I made the switch officially a few weeks ago from the 25K to the 10K. I admitted that 25K was too much for me to bite off at this time in my life and the 10K would be much more manageable.
However, then I did a very bad thing...and I sort of coasted! I had it in my head that 10K would be a piece of cake and I could back off a little in my efforts. BIG Mistake!
I should have kept going full speed ahead, as I've realized several times in the last week. I get up and run some mornings before work, but because of when I roll out of bed, I may only have time to run for 20 minutes. Then when I should be getting in my longer runs, I haven't planned well and life got in my way... (If you fail to plan, you plan to fail...I know!)
So, this week, I ran two miles Monday, 3 miles last night, and I will go for 4 tomorrow. I may walk just a bit, but I'll do it. Next week, I need to get a 5 mile in.... I'm going now for a minimum of 3 miles every other day. I can do that!
Consistency is going to get me to race day - and I plan to finish that 10K STRONG! :-)
Thanks for hanging with me, for encouraging me, for listening to my whine, and for holding me accountable when I slack! I appreciate it!
Check back this weekend! I'll post after my 4 tomorrow!
Angie
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Happy St. Patty's Day!
Hey, all!
The race last Friday was a lot of fun. Our friends, Helen and John, ran it with us...and a good time was had by all! I came in last of the 4 of us, but I ran a personal best of 34 min, 30 seconds! I was proud of that, although always striving to improve. I'd like to get to a 30 minute 5k before all is said and done!
Getting up and exercising in the morning has not been happening... maybe I'm struggling with the time change? Maybe I'm just feeling lazy? I should clarify that it's not just morning workouts I'm missing. The evenings have passed me by as well. Not sure what's up, but I know I need to stop with my inaction and get my tail in gear!
Drew and I have begun our personal "40 to 40 challenge". Between his 40th (March 12) and my 40th (June 15), we're going to see what improvements we can both make in the realm of health and fitness. I've taken measurements, hopped in the scale, I have pictures from the 5K to use as "before" shots. I talked about it in my last post, but now it's moving into reality. :-)
I just wanted to give a small shout out today, and I'll post more later this week. I appreciate the kind words you've sent me via email and on the blog... you guys are encouraging! THANK YOU for that!
Have a great St. Patty's Day, all!
Angie
The race last Friday was a lot of fun. Our friends, Helen and John, ran it with us...and a good time was had by all! I came in last of the 4 of us, but I ran a personal best of 34 min, 30 seconds! I was proud of that, although always striving to improve. I'd like to get to a 30 minute 5k before all is said and done!
Getting up and exercising in the morning has not been happening... maybe I'm struggling with the time change? Maybe I'm just feeling lazy? I should clarify that it's not just morning workouts I'm missing. The evenings have passed me by as well. Not sure what's up, but I know I need to stop with my inaction and get my tail in gear!
Drew and I have begun our personal "40 to 40 challenge". Between his 40th (March 12) and my 40th (June 15), we're going to see what improvements we can both make in the realm of health and fitness. I've taken measurements, hopped in the scale, I have pictures from the 5K to use as "before" shots. I talked about it in my last post, but now it's moving into reality. :-)
I just wanted to give a small shout out today, and I'll post more later this week. I appreciate the kind words you've sent me via email and on the blog... you guys are encouraging! THANK YOU for that!
Have a great St. Patty's Day, all!
Angie
Friday, March 12, 2010
Friday Fun! Drew is 40 today!
Happy Birthday to my dear, loving, supportive, handsome 40 year old husband! Hope your day is special and your year is amazing... I've got a feeling 40 will be good for us! Thank you for being in my world, for loving me in spite of myself, and for allowing me the privilege of being your wife. I am a blessed woman, for sure... :-)
So, Drew's 40th is making me think about 3 months from now when it's my 40th birthday. I'm actually not worried about hitting 40. I'm not feeling old or depressed. I'm not fearing the best years are gone. I'm really thinking that I love birthdays (mine or others!) - and 40 is just another reason to celebrate life! I'm looking forward to the journey continuing and seeing what adventures life has in store for us!
I'm going to use this time between birthdays to challenge myself though. I have been pretty lax with my exercise and healthy eating, so I'm going back to tracking my points and scheduling my workouts. I am still training for the RBR 10K, so I need to keep that up too! Yesterday, I ran 2.25 miles before work, today is 3.1 miles at the 5K, and tomorrow is scheduled for 4 miles. Sunday - may be a day off or may be a cross training day. I'd especially like to build some better biceps by June. :-)
I weighed myself this morning, I plan to take measurements tomorrow as well as a picture - and then on my 40th, I'll do it again! (Maybe each month in between too - that'd be a good idea.) This gives me a fun challenge to see what I can accomplish with the proper mind set between our two big birthdays!
Thanks for stopping in - have an awesome weekend, all!
Angie
So, Drew's 40th is making me think about 3 months from now when it's my 40th birthday. I'm actually not worried about hitting 40. I'm not feeling old or depressed. I'm not fearing the best years are gone. I'm really thinking that I love birthdays (mine or others!) - and 40 is just another reason to celebrate life! I'm looking forward to the journey continuing and seeing what adventures life has in store for us!
I'm going to use this time between birthdays to challenge myself though. I have been pretty lax with my exercise and healthy eating, so I'm going back to tracking my points and scheduling my workouts. I am still training for the RBR 10K, so I need to keep that up too! Yesterday, I ran 2.25 miles before work, today is 3.1 miles at the 5K, and tomorrow is scheduled for 4 miles. Sunday - may be a day off or may be a cross training day. I'd especially like to build some better biceps by June. :-)
I weighed myself this morning, I plan to take measurements tomorrow as well as a picture - and then on my 40th, I'll do it again! (Maybe each month in between too - that'd be a good idea.) This gives me a fun challenge to see what I can accomplish with the proper mind set between our two big birthdays!
Thanks for stopping in - have an awesome weekend, all!
Angie
Monday, March 8, 2010
The only thing constant is change.....
A friend of mine on a message board shared this quote last week:
"The secret to changing your life is in your intentions. Wishing, hoping and goal setting cannot accomplish change without intention. What is needed is a shift from the inert energy of wanting to the active energy of doing and intention."
—-Wayne Dyer
That totally hit home for me, as my hopes, dreams, and goals have been big and my intention has not moved from the dream into the action. I am not keeping up with my training schedule.... I'm running twice a week, three times if I'm lucky...totalling 9 - 10 miles on a good week. And, my friends, that is not going to get me to the 25K finish line. I can give all sorts of excuses... hurt foot, busy schedule, full time employment, family obligations, loss of my father-in-law.... you can see the list is lengthy. But, truth is - I just haven't moved it from dream to active energy of DOING!
So, with that being said, I am not going to beat myself up nor am I going to give up completely. What I am going to do is change the goal to one that I can achieve in the time I have left before May 8 - and adjust my bigger goal from there. I decided I will shift my 25K to the 10K, which is 6.2 miles. While that sounds so much shorter, and it is, I know it's still more than I am doing at this moment. This allows me to achieve a short term goal - and then I am setting my sights on a 1/2 marathon in the fall. There are several to choose from... Park 2 Park in Holland, Chicago 1/2, I've heard Lansing has a nice 1/2, Detroit has one and Grand Rapids has one! LOTS of options!
So, I will say, I feel like I failed. I set my sights on the 25K. I wanted that. I told so many people - my facebook world, my Weight Watchers world, and this blog world - and I am no longer going for that. I thought telling all of you would MAKE me do it, MAKE me be accountable. I still didn't create the time to do the training I needed. That makes me sad and a little frustrated, as this is my normal mode of operation and I was hoping to go beyond that.
However, I am feeling better than I have in a long time. I've learned that I CAN run, push myself harder than I thought, and I may just be able to teach an "old dog" new tricks after all! Physically, I haven't lost a lot of weight, but I feel good. Less tired and run down, as long as I'm not eating pure junk. :-) And, I know doing the 10K this year doesn't mean I can't do the 25K next year and the next and the next!
So, while I do believe the only thing constant is change, I'm going to go with the flow and keep on keepin' on. Forty is the new 30, right? :-) I still have plenty of time to conquer the world, one day at a time.... :-)
Hugs, all!
Happy Monday!
Angie
"The secret to changing your life is in your intentions. Wishing, hoping and goal setting cannot accomplish change without intention. What is needed is a shift from the inert energy of wanting to the active energy of doing and intention."
—-Wayne Dyer
That totally hit home for me, as my hopes, dreams, and goals have been big and my intention has not moved from the dream into the action. I am not keeping up with my training schedule.... I'm running twice a week, three times if I'm lucky...totalling 9 - 10 miles on a good week. And, my friends, that is not going to get me to the 25K finish line. I can give all sorts of excuses... hurt foot, busy schedule, full time employment, family obligations, loss of my father-in-law.... you can see the list is lengthy. But, truth is - I just haven't moved it from dream to active energy of DOING!
So, with that being said, I am not going to beat myself up nor am I going to give up completely. What I am going to do is change the goal to one that I can achieve in the time I have left before May 8 - and adjust my bigger goal from there. I decided I will shift my 25K to the 10K, which is 6.2 miles. While that sounds so much shorter, and it is, I know it's still more than I am doing at this moment. This allows me to achieve a short term goal - and then I am setting my sights on a 1/2 marathon in the fall. There are several to choose from... Park 2 Park in Holland, Chicago 1/2, I've heard Lansing has a nice 1/2, Detroit has one and Grand Rapids has one! LOTS of options!
So, I will say, I feel like I failed. I set my sights on the 25K. I wanted that. I told so many people - my facebook world, my Weight Watchers world, and this blog world - and I am no longer going for that. I thought telling all of you would MAKE me do it, MAKE me be accountable. I still didn't create the time to do the training I needed. That makes me sad and a little frustrated, as this is my normal mode of operation and I was hoping to go beyond that.
However, I am feeling better than I have in a long time. I've learned that I CAN run, push myself harder than I thought, and I may just be able to teach an "old dog" new tricks after all! Physically, I haven't lost a lot of weight, but I feel good. Less tired and run down, as long as I'm not eating pure junk. :-) And, I know doing the 10K this year doesn't mean I can't do the 25K next year and the next and the next!
So, while I do believe the only thing constant is change, I'm going to go with the flow and keep on keepin' on. Forty is the new 30, right? :-) I still have plenty of time to conquer the world, one day at a time.... :-)
Hugs, all!
Happy Monday!
Angie
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
DON'T PANIC!
Okay, so race day is 73 days away. Yep. 73 days! That's not many! And, I have not been a good little blogger keeping you updated on my progress.... Sorry!
So, short version.... life has been providing me some obstacles - and I have been providing my own mental obstacles. I feel like maybe I should pay anyone who actually reads this for being a free therapy session for me! It seems I use this blog(WHEN I write) as my cathartic place of reflection or something... I hope you don't mind! (and, to answer the question you're asking yourself...no, I am NOT going to pay you, although I said I feel like I should! HA!)
So - I am still training, although I am quite behind in my training. Drew has expressed some concern about the possibility of injury as I try to "catch up" on training. We've developed a plan... and that is I will continue to train as consistently as I can in the next 6 weeks or so. I have until April 16 to change my mind, if I want to go from the 25K to the 10K. IF I would opt to do that, which I do not plan on doing, I would then run the 1/2 Marathon in Charlevoix on June 26. So, I would still have a long distance goal for this year, but it would remove some pressure of doing it on May 8.
We just looked at that as a "what if" possibility. I plan to run the RBR 25K on May 8.... I am still going to make it happen!
And, you know, I just decided I'm not feeling nearly reflective as I once was.... I just want to let you know I'm still here, still reaching for my goal, and still not giving up! :-)
I will be back this weekend to write some more!
Later, all!
Angie
Oh, and today - didn't make it up early to run before work...but did come home and crank out 2.25 miles before dinner. WOO HOO! :-)
So, short version.... life has been providing me some obstacles - and I have been providing my own mental obstacles. I feel like maybe I should pay anyone who actually reads this for being a free therapy session for me! It seems I use this blog(WHEN I write) as my cathartic place of reflection or something... I hope you don't mind! (and, to answer the question you're asking yourself...no, I am NOT going to pay you, although I said I feel like I should! HA!)
So - I am still training, although I am quite behind in my training. Drew has expressed some concern about the possibility of injury as I try to "catch up" on training. We've developed a plan... and that is I will continue to train as consistently as I can in the next 6 weeks or so. I have until April 16 to change my mind, if I want to go from the 25K to the 10K. IF I would opt to do that, which I do not plan on doing, I would then run the 1/2 Marathon in Charlevoix on June 26. So, I would still have a long distance goal for this year, but it would remove some pressure of doing it on May 8.
We just looked at that as a "what if" possibility. I plan to run the RBR 25K on May 8.... I am still going to make it happen!
And, you know, I just decided I'm not feeling nearly reflective as I once was.... I just want to let you know I'm still here, still reaching for my goal, and still not giving up! :-)
I will be back this weekend to write some more!
Later, all!
Angie
Oh, and today - didn't make it up early to run before work...but did come home and crank out 2.25 miles before dinner. WOO HOO! :-)
Monday, February 1, 2010
Was it something I said?
Hey, peeps!
I'm thinking I must have scared you all with my introspective post last week.... it's been quiet as a church mouse on here. All I'm hearing is the sound of crickets chirping! No comments of any sort.
Well, that's okay. Life gets busy. Maybe you are all feeling introspective too. Maybe you're like my friend Bonnie who can't figure out how to post a comment. (I still love ya, Bon - no worries!) It's all good....
To bring you up to date - I ran my 5 miles last week...and then my running was like crickets chirping! Nothing was happening. I didn't get up early to run - didn't stay up late to run - didn't schedule time to run - didn't run! Period! It was weird too! Almost like running 5 miles without stopping made me feel like I was too close to a "real" runner, which I am not. So, then I had to go self sabotage or something. I ran a total of 2 miles last week.... didn't even run my long run over the weekend! And, I can feel a difference in how my life works when I'm not exercising or running.... I'm more stressed. Life feels more overwhelming. I eat like crap, mainly craving carbs, because I'm trying to get a fix from food to keep myself going. That's nuts.
Awareness is a good thing though!
So, tomorrow, I'm up early, hitting Tready, as my friend Staci calls it. I plan to get in two miles and then consult my training guide for what the rest of the week should entail. I know Saturday is scheduled for 6 miles...so I have a little work cut out for me! I'm on it, people!
Life may be throwing me some curve balls, but I can field them. (Ok, for those of you who saw me play softball in 2008...that's not true literally, just metaphorically) I'm still in the game and May 8, 2010, I WILL run the River Bank Run 25K!
WOO HOO!
Good night, gang....gotta rest for my run!
Ang
I'm thinking I must have scared you all with my introspective post last week.... it's been quiet as a church mouse on here. All I'm hearing is the sound of crickets chirping! No comments of any sort.
Well, that's okay. Life gets busy. Maybe you are all feeling introspective too. Maybe you're like my friend Bonnie who can't figure out how to post a comment. (I still love ya, Bon - no worries!) It's all good....
To bring you up to date - I ran my 5 miles last week...and then my running was like crickets chirping! Nothing was happening. I didn't get up early to run - didn't stay up late to run - didn't schedule time to run - didn't run! Period! It was weird too! Almost like running 5 miles without stopping made me feel like I was too close to a "real" runner, which I am not. So, then I had to go self sabotage or something. I ran a total of 2 miles last week.... didn't even run my long run over the weekend! And, I can feel a difference in how my life works when I'm not exercising or running.... I'm more stressed. Life feels more overwhelming. I eat like crap, mainly craving carbs, because I'm trying to get a fix from food to keep myself going. That's nuts.
Awareness is a good thing though!
So, tomorrow, I'm up early, hitting Tready, as my friend Staci calls it. I plan to get in two miles and then consult my training guide for what the rest of the week should entail. I know Saturday is scheduled for 6 miles...so I have a little work cut out for me! I'm on it, people!
Life may be throwing me some curve balls, but I can field them. (Ok, for those of you who saw me play softball in 2008...that's not true literally, just metaphorically) I'm still in the game and May 8, 2010, I WILL run the River Bank Run 25K!
WOO HOO!
Good night, gang....gotta rest for my run!
Ang
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