#70 - I Love That Feeling!

I just love the feeling of setting a goal and actually accomplishing it! And I think the best way for that to happen is to set mini-goals for yourself.

For example, if your 2009 resolution was "get more organized," well, when do you know if you've done it or not? It's hard to reach an exhilarating feeling of "I DID IT!" when the goal is so ambiguous.

So, I've been doing a program called Body-for-LIFE and some of my goals are: Lose 25 lbs, get into a size 8, etc. in 12 weeks. One of the things I'm doing is a cardio interval program. You run for 20 minutes at various intensities, finishing up with a final all-out burst of energy. As I've been going along, I've been able to run a little harder over time. When I first started running 2 years ago, I would start to get dizzy and my vision would black out if I ran much more than 5 mph. I'd get through about 1.4 miles in 20 minutes. As I've continued to run and push myself harder, I got to where I could run 6 and even 7 mph and not even feel as spent as I did in the beginning at 5. I've also been able to keep up the pace for longer, to the point that I don't even have to stop and walk during my recovery minutes.

So, I've been increasing the distance I could run in those 20 minutes, to the point that I was getting in the 1.8 mile range. I kept hoping to be able to run 2 miles in that time, but didn't feel like I could do it. But one day I said to myself, "I want to run 2 miles in 20 minutes. And I want to do it in the next 2 weeks." So, each time I ran, I'd figure out ways to increase my speed here and there in order to get there. I used to take more time warming up. Jogging at 4.5 mph or so for a couple minutes to loosen up the muscles. But I found that if I run at 5 - 5.5 mph during that time, I still don't feel like I'm pushing myself too hard in the beginning. It still feels like a warm-up. Yet, I'm running farther as I'm doing it. I also found that I don't have to slow down and recover quite so much during each of my recovery minutes. I set a mini-goal last week to never set the treadmill below 5 mph throughout the whole run. Since 6 mph is the 10-minute-mile pace, I started gauging how many minutes I spent below 6, and tried to counter them with an equal number of minutes above 6.

And on Saturday, the deadline for meeting my goal, I pushed myself hard and I actually did it. I ran 2 miles in 20 minutes. And it was an amazing feeling! To know that I had set my mind to do something, and I actually did it, felt so empowering and exciting.

So, I need to get back to my January challenge goal. I slacked off too much during the first half of the month. I'm tempted to just say, "I can't write 30,000 words this month. It's just too hard at this point to catch up." But, on the other hand, if I can run 2 miles in 20 minutes when that used to seem too hard, then why can't I write 30,000 words in January? I have 12 more non-Sundays left in January. That means I have to write 2055 words per day to get there. Why can't I write 2055 words per day? That's not unattainable. So I'm going to do it.

I'd say, "Wish me luck," but I'm not going to need luck. What I'm going to need is determination. So, "Wish me determination." LOL!