I started to look at the times of the previous participants in the IM 70.3 Florida to set a goal for my training. Once I established my goal, I went out to train one day and noticed that I was considerably slower than what I set for my goal. I immediately started get down on myself, and I started to think about how impossible it is to complete my goal. I had to get refocused and fast. I started to do some research and ran across this paragraph:
You're going to have good days and bad days. There are going to be days when you really do not want to train. All of that is normal and ok. Don't worry about all the miles you need to cover; just focus on today's workout; just focus on the next mile. Live in the moment and don't worry about anything else. Break down your training and your workouts into smaller, more manageable segments and just focus on them. You can always take one more step or do one more lap. Stay in the moment and focus on right now.
That paragraph immediately made me realize that I was looking too far into the future instead of dealing with the training of today. I found further encouragement in 6th Chapter of Matthew:
Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.
When Rachel and I were going through the overload of information that we were given about Shawn’s conditions, it was really hard on us at first, but we were soon surrounded by friends and family that were there to love on us and support us through those times. Through God’s direction they became our rocks and crutches when we were weak. Now that I look back at it, we only had time to focus on one thing at a time, because we could not wrap our minds around everything that was happing to Shawn. We were staying in the moment and focusing. I still can’t believe that we got through what I would have considered the impossible before we went through it.
From now on each workout has become its own individual event before the Ironman. Since each workout has become an event, all my focus is on only finishing that workout, and celebrating each completion. Sunday was a Brick Workout for me consisting of a 1 hour bike ride and a 30 minute run. I was actually able to make each section an event and it resulted in the workout being one of the best training sessions I have ever had. I am sure I looked like an idiot in front of my house jumping around and celebrating like Michael Jordan did after making the winning shot, but I did not care. I was victorious…now let’s us move on to tomorrow’s event.
To all my friends and family, I appreciate your support so much. We are built to laugh, cry, and live life together. Without your encouragement, I could not do this alone. Thank you!
Update 2/9/2011:
I am overwhelmed by the support that I have received from my friends, family, and followers of this blog over the past few days. I can definately see that I am not on this journey alone. Thank you so much for taking the time to share your stories and words of encouragement in the past two days.
Someone sent me a link to this video. Greg went through a lot of what I went through and this is his small story:
