i think i can

i didn't think i could run a 5k...but i did...twice
{July 2010}

'i think i can't'...is more like it.  this is the interior conversation that takes place in my head before...and usually during at least the first half of... my workouts.  as soon as the alarm goes off, it begins..."need sleep.  so tired.  wait, do i feel sick? my back hurts. i'm still sore from last time..." and on it goes until i finally annoy myself to the point of waking up. and getting up.  i often teeter on the edge of indecision, thankfully falling on the side of 'saying yes', more often than not.  as opposed to 'saying no', which would mean going back to bed.

i'm not sure what the catalyst is in those moments of indecision.  the thing that finally causes me to do the right thing.  initially, it's probably money. my husband says it to me, and i say it to my daughter..."we've paid for it, we can't afford to waste it".  then comes the accountability.  when you have a trainer or workout partner(s) you're much more likely to show up, rather than be the one person that didn't show.  (this is one time that peer pressure can work to your advantage)
another incentive is past performance.  there have been countless moments when i thought i would drop dead. pass out. or at the very, least throw up!  but none of that has happened.  at least not yet.

the other day our trainer was pushing us through a new, and particularly difficult, exercise.  i literally said out loud..."i want to stop now".  he just laughed. and i kept going.  the next time i did it, i had (yet another) interior conversation with myself.  i reminded me that last time i didn't fall or die. that yes, it was hard, and yes, it would take a minute to recover.  but literally only a minute, and that i would, in fact,  recover.  that little pep talk helped me to dig down and find the strength to push! Go! Run harder! ha ha and beat my own time!!!

the little engine that could never said 'i think i can't', he said 'i think i CAN'.  so, though it might seem strange, try having a little conversation with yourself the next time you realize that you just thought...'i can't'.  (lets be honest...this isn't a new concept to most of you:), the talking to yourself part )  you might think you can't...but YOU CAN!!