The 1st finish

I was catching up on some blog reading last night and one of Ben's posts resonated with me today.  The first line of the post is Sometimes running and training sucks.  Boy, is he right!  I haven't had one of those days recently, but it is so very true.  When I don't want to go for a run, don't want to go to the gym to meet with my trainer, or want to eat a whole pack of Oreos just for the hell of it, I think of one thing...

This is a picture of my very first 5K (Women's Distance Festival; September 25, 2010).  This was the culmination of a 10-week running program, of which I was able to only run about 4-5 weeks.  I was plagued with a fairly tough groin muscle/tendon strain and had to walk the last several weeks of the program.  Even though that was a struggle, I was bound and determined to run in this particular 5K - no matter how slow, no matter how much it hurt, and no matter how silly I looked.  The look in my eyes (yes, it is small) is all it takes for me.  I see the determination and sheer will to accomplish things and that's what leads me to do the things that I don't want to do at the time, so that I can do the things I want to do in the future.