A Sense of Accomplishment

I started a project Friday afternoon which should have taken me a few hours to a day and a half, at most. I had a leak in my car and had to rebuild the front end. I took it all apart, did my repairs, then reassembled the car. When I did, it ran rough, almost not at all. I took it back apart and thought I found the problem, but then, when I tried to put it back together, I found a damaged piece that required me taking the car back apart again to replace. Before I reassembled everything, I tried starting the car with only the bare minimal parts installed. I reassembled the car and tried to start it, but it would not go. I broke it down again, inspected things very carefully, and found that a sprocket was out of alignment by about 1/64th of a degree. I worked tediously to put it back together and now have it running. A day or day and a half project became a 5 day project, which angered me, sickened me, and just made me feel stressed. But I have a great feeling of pride and accomplishment for having done the work my self, as well as a good understanding of why mechanics are so expensive!

Last week I had a post about a great run. Then I tried to repeat the run Saturday, but my time was off and I struggled to meet my goal. Today I had what seemed like a difficult workout with Moe, and I thought about quitting. I started this whole getting in shape thing wanting to lose 15 pounds so I could fit into my pants again. I have since lost 47 pounds and am wearing pants that are 4" smaller in the waist then the ones I was trying to get into. I exceeded my goal, and was ready to say, "Enough!" However, I chose to stick with it. I stopped thinking about the marathon and whether or not I still wanted to compete in it and focused at the task at hand. I did not ask what I would have to do next while working out, but instead waited until I finished the task at hand before inquiring where to go next. I worked tediously to complete the task at hand, focusing only on that task. In the end, I was glad I did it.

Now I am looking forward to February 20, but I am living and training one day at a time.

Food for thought: Training for a marathon is like working on a car. Focus on the step you are on without getting caught up in wondering if it is going to work in the end!