Learning to dig...

"It's the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen."

Muhammad Ali

So true Mr. Ali, so true. There is something magical about our beliefs that can either allow us to overcome obstacles and surpass ourselves or quickly give up and sometimes not even try. Or, as Henry Ford once said, "Think you can, think you can't, either way you're right"! So I reminded myself of this today as I was attempting to dig a little deeper.

Today, I went to the gym later in the afternoon. My plan was: the gym, come home and have an early dinner, and then later in the evening, head out with Uber H for a quick 5K. That's not exactly how it panned out. At the gym, I started with a 2K warm up on the treadmill. I then did my jumps (30 in all), then my workout consisted of some leg, arm and core work. I ended the workout with some stretching. It had been a good workout, my legs felt a little wobbly and I was ready for a short break. When I got home, there was Uber H all dressed and ready to go for his run. Okay then...so I grabbed half a banana and off we went. The plan was for a 5K steady run. Around 3K I was starting to struggle, I really didn't feel I had much energy left. Uber H knew I was struggling, the fact that I was way behind him was a good indication that things weren't going so well. After a while, he came back to talk to me:

Uber H: "Have we done 4K yet?"
Me: "4.3"
U.H.: "Do you want to walk for one minute?"
Me: "No, it's okay"
U.H.: "We could walk for just one minute"
Me: "No, I want to get through this. I need to get used to pushing through when I feel like this"
U.H.: "Okay then...you're tough, you can do it"
Me: "But the minute I hit 5K I'm stopping"
U.H. (Laughs and takes off)
Beep beep, 5K, I did it! Here is where my "you can finish this" belief kicked in as I started talking to myself: "I'm at the top of a nice hill. May as well wait till I reach the bottom to stop." "Feels like my second wind has kicked in."  "Oh, it's nice and flat here, I'll stop when I reach the uphill right ahead." "Look, you're almost home, hang in there, climb the hill and get to the stop sign at least." "A few more meters and you'll be in your driveway." YAY! I'm home and I did 5.5K.

It wasn't an easy run today, but I had an AHA moment around the 3K mark, a realization that I better get used to not feeling so good during some of the upcoming longer runs in my marathon training plan. Not that I always felt great during my half-marathon training, but I didn't suffer too much. I have a feeling that's about to change. We're talking a 10K tempo run the first week of training. The most I've done is 6K at tempo pace. Can I take it? I'd like to believe that I can and belief is everything...so they say! Do I want to do this to myself? Well, I signed up didn't I, so I guess that would be a yes :)

Over the weekend, I completed a 10K "long run" to get back into it. It went relatively well, but it wasn't easy. The humidity may have had something to do with it.

I started dressed like this.

...and before even reaching 2K, I was dressed like this!

A little TMB photoshoot :)

Learning to dig a little deeper over the next few months...Cheers!

P.S. Welcome to my new followers and thanks mom, for becoming my 100th follower! I love you! :)