Stop Complaining!

I was at the gym tonight (second day in a row! Seriously, that's major), slugging it out on the treadmill running intervals (which, in hind sight, were way too intense for my level of fitness. I almost fell off), thinking about how much I wanted to stop and how easy it would be for me to get off and leave and no would ever know that I skipped out on a workout.

 

But I would know. And I would feel guilty. So I continued, the whole time thinking about what I would rather be doing and how uncomfortable I was (I also had come from a dinner out with some girlfriends, which, FYI, does NOT make running any easier), and how I could change what I was doing. I was looking for an out.

 

Surprise, surprise. I'm really getting tired of my "flight" response when things get uncomfortable or aren't what I expect. I expend so much energy worrying and searching for other things to do when I could be using it on actually sticking TO something and working through it.

 

I've resigned myself to the fact that while I may not enjoy my program at school, I've signed up for 8 months and I have to finish. I don't have a choice. I'll lose money if I don't and I have never been the type to quit at anything in school, no matter how much I wanted to or how difficult it was to get through.

 

And that's when it hit me. Why can't I apply that same knowledge to my workouts? No, I don't like them. No, I don't feel that great when I'm doing them, and I can think of 1000 other things that I would rather do. But when I feel that way about school, I still go. Because if I don't, then I won't pass. And if I don't work out, I won't get fit. It's simple.

 

I go to school because I have to. I made the choice to attend and I'm going to continue with it no matter how much angst and worry and discomfort it causes me. And I'll figure out how to cope with it in the best way that I know how. So from now on, my workouts will be regarded with the same outlook. I have a schedule. I know when I'm going to the gym (sure, there will be times when life gets in the way, but I'll have to adjust my schedule accordingly and make sure I fit it in some other time - just like I would make sure I caught up on the notes if I miss a class) and I'm just going to go. Even if I'm tired. Even if I'm sore. Because the only way that I'm going to see any positive changes in my physical fitness is if I stop incessantly planning out my strategy, and just DO IT.

 

Let's see how this works.

 

Love,

 

M