I don't know how many of you people watch this show. I don't normally, and really did not watch the whole thing, but I got home a little later last night and this was for the last 15 min., the time I allowed myself to relax before getting organized for today. It occurred to me after watching these people struggle to work out in an attempt to lose weight AND win a prize of some sort that they were no different than anyone attempting to achieve any goal, like a carrot dangling in front of them to keep them motivated and focused, like anyone training for any type of athletic event. They weren't just fat people trying to lose weight to win a prize. They were human beings struggling to achieve something they never thought they could do. They put all their blood, sweat, and tears into achieving their goal. Are they any different than any of us training for their first 5k or marathon, their first triathlon or Ironman? Granted, they are taking on a goal many of us do not have to face, but if they succeed at this goal, who knows where that will lead them? Isn't that like the stepping stones of success in training for and finishing a big race? It put this in a different perspective for me once I thought of it that way. A quote I found recently is something I have been thinking of a lot lately: Success is a continuing thing. It is growth and development. It is achieving one thing and using that as a stepping stone to achieve something new. John Maxwell

So the workouts yesterday were pilates in the morning and an evening workout after dinner with the grandkids. I liked Mipper's J-Lo butt workout. I wanted something different to do but didn't want to pound the treadmill or the track too much until after my indoor tri this weekend. I figured this might be something different. The workout I did, and I think the one that was in Mipper's blog, was 1 min. at 1% incline, increase every min. to the highest, then 5 min., then decrease 1% for one min. until back to zero. I wasn't sure if this was a walk or run but decided to do it as a walk. I started at 4.0 mph and decreased every 2-3 inclines down to 3.2, then increased speed back to 4.0 until I hit zero, then went to 30 min. at that pace. Nothing hurt today or during the workout. I didn't realize though that the treadmill went to 15.0 and I only went to 10.0. Enough for one time.

So while doing this workout I started thinking of my training schedule. I started really being realistic about thinking I could do a half marathon in less than a month, when I hadn't done any race over 5 miles in the past 6 months, and then was forced to take 2 months off for an injury. Weather, lack of conditioning, and trying to not get injured got me realizing that maybe I could pull off a 10k or 15k, but a half marathon might leave me injured again if I rushed it like last year. So maybe I should reassess what I need to do for this year to get ready for next. Building up strength and endurance should be number one. That is where I am lacking right now. Distance and speed can come later. I want to be confident when I attempt an event that I won't come dragging into the finish line whipped and deflated. I want to feel that I put my best into it and didn't just do the event to just get by and finish. I have done enough racing in my lifetime to know that putting minimal performance into something that will need maximum effort to achieve is not the way to go. It will never give me those little successes I need that will lead to the goal I want to achieve. Stay tuned on any progress here!