Non-scale victory

Sometimes we become so obsessed with the scale we lose sight of all the progress our body is making.  This happens to me all the time. I so desperately want a certain number that I forget that bodies don’t always follow science and there are outside factors that can screw things up but that doesn’t mean I’m not making progress.  Last month after falling off the wagon for a while…in fact our wagon backed up and ran me over a few times…Scott gave us an assignment to get 3 miles on the treadmill as fast as we could.  Walking, jogging, running, whatever it took to do 3 miles straight and then send him our time.  I found after being a slacker those fun little things called shin splints paid me a visit.  My three mile time was terrible.  56 minutes.  I basically had to walk the entire thing.  I felt so ashamed but I sent Scott my time and knew that it could only get better from there. 

This week he gave us the assignment of doing 4 miles as fast as we could and sending him the time.  I was dreading this.  I didn’t workout Friday or Saturday with my parents in town, sitting at a wrestling tournament all day and preparing for company.  I knew yesterday I needed to get to the gym and work off some sedentary days and sodium.  I was determined to do my four miles, even if it killed me.  I walked the first .25 miles to warm up my legs and hopefully avoid the shin splints this time. Then I used Scott’s training method from Thursday night and ran .5 miles, walked some, ran .40, and so on down to .1 miles then started all over again at .5.  I didn’t have a particular goal in mind until I hit mile 2 and realized I was under 30 minutes.  I knew I wanted to get this 4 miles under and hour.  And I did!!! I came in at 57:36.  I completed a full mile more in just a minute longer than the 3 miles had taken me last month.  I was so proud of myself!!!  I beat my time, I increased my miles, I didn’t stop going and I believe this is the first time I’ve ever done 4 miles on the treadmill non-stop.  Hooray me!!! For a second it crept into my mind not to post this because other people can run 4 miles in probably half that time and then I reminded myself, this is my journey!!! It doesn’t matter how fast anyone else runs anything.  This is about me and I do not have to be compared to anyone but myself.  And the next time I do 4 miles (which I have a feeling, if it’s up to Scott, will be sooner than later) my time will get better again.  Progress, slow and steady is what gets us where we need to be.  The first of my 13 races for 2013 is in two weeks and I know that I can do it.  So hooray.  Go me.