Like this:

So I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it (probably only in passing) but I’m still a little freaked out by this Bigass Goal I’ve set for myself. A half-marathon is a long way! I mean, a really long way. I am trying very hard not to think about it, but occasionally I do, and then I start to think, “Well, that’s crazy. YOU’RE not an athlete. Why on earth would you DO something like that?” And from there the little voice of NO starts to go into can’ts, won’ts, shouldn’ts, and I just want to scream.

I don’t, generally. Scream, that is. I move on, ignore it, and sometimes that works. Sometimes, like, oh, all of last week, it doesn’t. Those are the weeks the little voice is more seductive, less berating: “Oh, you don’t want to go for a run anyway, it’s just not really that important.”

But the little voice is wrong: Every step I take, every time I put one foot in front of the other and add up the miles, it counts. It’s important. Every run is a damn victory lap.

I made good progress this week, all things considered, and the biggest was: Running 7.5 miles out of 8! That’s right! I had to walk for a half a mile (up a crazy big hill – it is seriously half a mile, and I couldn’t do it at mile 5.5) but the rest of the time? I was running. I am crazy proud of myself, and it was one more way to tamp down on the little voice that says NO.

Next week will be a challenge – I’ll be in western Colorado, which is really really high up there. I haven’t done much running at altitude, so the plan is to keep the runs short and sweet and do my long run Sunday upon my return to the oxygen-rich flatlands. I won’t have my laptop but I might make a blogging attempt on my hosts’ computer. If not, until next week!

Advertisement