Running to another goal

Well, I can cross another item off my list of goals. I managed to run a complete mile around the track without stopping, or puking.

As I’ve blogged before, I am sure there are many who do not see the significance in running a mile. For many, it’s probably a fairly simple task. But for others, it’s a significant achievement. For me, it’s a big deal, and I’m proud of it.

During recent workouts I’ve been able to piece together a mile on the track. I typically start each day at the AT&T Sports Center with four laps around the track, which is a third of a mile. On the days I do the circuit training, I’ll run a lap or two between exercises.

On Wednesday during a meeting with Krista, the AT&T personal trainer, I started with the four laps and she challenged me by assigning me eight laps at the end of the workout.

Since I started working out again, I’d only gone as far as a half-mile (six laps) on the track. Typically, by the sixth lap I was either gassed or my legs were dead, or both. But on Wednesday, I actually felt fairly good. I told Krista the first four laps at the end of the workout actually felt better than my four warm-up laps. I managed to hit the eight laps and didn’t feel like collapsing, so that was a good thing.

When I hit the AT&T Thursday morning, I told myself this was the day to tackle the mile. I started running and didn’t stop until I finished the 12th lap.

As I’ve said before, running for distance has never been strength. Folks who know me can attest to that. When I was a freshman in high school football I think you could have timed my mile with an hourglass rather than a stopwatch. And when it came to JB, you could take the word ‘dash’ out of the term 40-yard dash. But I always tried to improve.

Even though there were many who I simply couldn’t compete with when it came to speed and long-distance endurance when I was involved in sports, I competed against myself. I wanted to improve.

Since I started exercising regularly again, I find myself with those feelings once again. I am not competing against other people here. I am competing against myself. I want to be stronger. I want to have more endurance. I want to continue to lose weight. I want to be healthy.

There were only two other people on the track when I hit my 12th lap Thursday. Who would have known if I decided to stop at lap 10, or lap eight, or lap six?

Nobody … but me.

It’s been nice to have that drive again, set a goal and achieve it. I really think it’s all about little victories. I don’t have to run a five-minute mile right now to be happy. I don’t have to weigh less than 200 pounds to be happy.

I’ve lost more than 30 pounds, without starving myself, and I’ve run my mile.

That, I’m very happy about.

But I’m not stopping here. I want to run a mile and be ready to run another. I want to be 60 pounds down and not just 30. The little victories make you realize, that if you stay on the right track, the big accomplishments will come.

Continued luck to all,

JB