DOUBLE Double

 

"Turn down the volume of fear and turn up the volume of confidence and resilience." 

I should have been out of the house WAY earlier than I was, but I lost track of time in my bible and my coffee!

I strolled out of the house to find the heat was already turned up. I didn't have a designated plan for my run, allowing flexibility and comfort be my direction as it had been for the last 2 weeks since Twilight. 

I turned my speaker on letting the music motivate me. 

WOWZA! The sun was toasty on my skin and blinding in my eyes. I was hoping the more I ran the more I would come up with a plan. 

But the strangest thing happened, unplanned. My Garmin just beeped at 2 miles when a song came through my speaker. I don't know if it was the lyrics, the tune or my wild heart but I felt something moving in my heart. 

I felt my belly begin to quiver and my heart tremble as my strength released from my body and tears erupted. 

I wanted to tighten my grip and buckle down but instead I allowed myself to feel the feels and it felt wonderfully sweet. 

It felt like Peace. It was gentle. It was comforting, tears of compassion and love that I knew was the Lords wings around me. 

I embraced it even though I probably looked like a lunatic on the side of the backroads, I loved how it felt like refuge. 

And then I smiled and headed back down the dirt road with a plan!

"A goal without a plan is just a wish"

Tempo RUN! 

I hit the first 3 miles easy, mostly because I didn't have a plan, then I decided to drop a gear and do the thing I was fearful of, the pain of running hard, outside the comfort level. 

It doesn't take much to put yourself in the hurt locker down Rattalee Lake Rd. Every mile was a struggle.  I considered changing my plan or quitting my plan, I really didn't know how I was going to follow through with my plan of 5 hard miles. 

"ONE mile at a time Anita".

When things are hard, when I am struggling, I get overwhelmed if I look at the BIG picture. I had to break it down. 

I did it!! My 2-mile cool down still had my heart rate red lined!

I did a much better cool down after finishing my 10 miler, I walked over to visit mom and dad a mile away! 

Double TIME!

Thursday is our group run with Complete Runner. Everyone runs different but we all encourage one another. 

I planned on running easy but I found myself in a conversation with Sarah, one of the faster runners and somehow her and I found ourselves chatting with a couple runners going even faster making our run a total SUFFERFEST. 

It was 91' out as we stared uphill at Mott College. 

I said to Sarah, breathlessly, "Ugh, look at that hill." 

Her reply was worse than my statement, "Yeah, look at the sun, no shade." 

I was cramping, sweating like a stuck pig, exhausted, breathing like a dying animal and scared of this view in front of me. 

Sarah could have dropped a gear and left me, she could keep up with the group in front of us but she stayed with me. She knew I was having a hard time and got in front of me to pace me. 

We finished together. Stronger together. We both set out for an easy run and did the hard things. 

RUNDOWN:

Am RUN

Distance: 10 miles TEMPO 5miles @ 80%. Total time: 8:41min/mi

Cool down: 2 miles walk.

Pm RUN

Distance: 5 miles w/ Complete Runner @ 8:28min/mi

 "Turn down the volume of fear and turn up the volume of confidence and resilience." 

What are we listening to. Today, I had to remind myself to be CONFIDENT in who I am and what I can do. I had to Turn UP the volume of who I am and BELEIVE it FEARLESSLY. 

Being CONFIDENT in who you are is POWERFUL. No one knows you better than you know YOURSELF. There is STRENGTH in confidence. The body does what the mind roars. 

FEAR is a LIAR. 

In Peace, not pieces,

Anita