Of course, I haven't much time today. This has been my excuse every day ... however, I opted to ignore all excuses today and simply state it. Then rush my little fingers into action in the 45 minutes I have available to me for showering, dressing, eating, now blogging, and finally springing my son from school to take him to the endodontist consultation this afternoon.
I have written many entries in the past week ... in my head, while driving ... in totally inappropriate and unworkable places. Inappropriate meaning ... no means to jot down the masterpieces composed in my head, sitting at red lights, watching my son at karate (sans pen and paper) ...
Actually, this is one of the few weeks that I wished for a laptop to take with me everywhere I go. I spend a lot of time waiting for Ian to complete whatever it is he is doing (karate and tutoring being two such things). I don't write well. For some reason, my brain blocks up hard creatively when I put pen to paper. However, put me in front of a keyboard and I can light it up fairly quickly. The trouble with a laptop is ... I can NOT type on one of those itty bitty little keyboards! I would have to carry a real keyboard with me everywhere I go, plug it in and find a place other than my lap on which to type. And this somewhat negates the purpose of a laptop computer.
I digress ... what I am trying to say is that there have been lots of lovely and creative thoughts this week that simply have not made it to *post* due to my time constraints.
Today I barely have time to discuss any of them ... but this one little short one will have to do. I KICKED THE BOTTOM OFF THE STAIRMASTER TODAY!
Remember, last post I was bemoaning Maureen's suggestion that I tuck in a 40 minute, level 8 stairmaster session on January 21st due to my schedule conflict for my usual spin class? I was certain that they would be mopping me up from the floor if I so much as attempted that mind-numbing task. She gave in and allowed me the option of a level 6 climb. Many of my friends and exercise cohorts deemed her certifiable and agreed with my assessment that it simply wasn't to be done.
Which of course, put me in a competitive mindset. It's one thing for ME to say I can't do something ... but when other's start agreeing with that lowered assessment ... hmmm. It gives me something to prove. I'm kind of freaky competitive like that.
So I started right away trying to get my 20 minute sessions up to a full level 8. It took 2 days. OK ... I do one minute at level 5 to warm up, then finish it out at level 8. Tuesday I was off stairmaster duty. But other than that, I have climbed every single day since my last post. Today I accomplished 42 minutes on the stairmaster. One minute warm up of level 3, 4 minutes revving up my brain warm up at level 5, then 35 full minutes at level 8, followed by a 2 minute cool down at levels 6 & 4. I climbed 2,160 total stairs today ... just shy of the Sears Tower. I would have kept going just to get that Sears Tower goal (another 75 steps or so) but there was a gentleman who had been patiently waiting for me to finish my climb and didn't complain that I stayed on the machine 12 minutes longer than the rules allow. I didn't want to push my luck ... but I did climb as fast as I could in cool down, hehehe. I know, not much of a cool down that way, but I was competing, you see.
I walked my heart rate down after, no worries.
What I was left with, after cleaning up the pools of sweat beneath my machine (rather than the staff cleaning ME up off the floor!) was this:
NOTHING is impossible for me, if I put my mind and determination behind it. No matter how big and difficult it might seem, if I just keep doing what I need to do, I can accomplish absolutely ANYTHING I put my mind to.
Even that Iron Man Triathlon I have dreamed about since I was too young to be scared.
No, I am not putting my name into some hat for the Iron Man. Not yet. But I do believe that if, when, I decide to do it ... I can. Funny isn't it ... how people agreeing with my own lowered assessment of my abilities actually brought me to this realization?
Now, don't any of you change and start telling me anything differently than you have been. I need you to be just who you are and have been so that I can become something different. If that makes any sense whatsoever ...
>"A man of sense is never discouraged by difficulties; he redoubles his industry and his diligence, he perseveres, and infallibly prevails at last." Lord Chesterfield
Ps. Thank YOU, Maureen, for pushing me beyond my own limits and expectations for myself. For believing I am even tougher than I thought I was and never letting me get away with being wimpy. I intend to keep proving you right, no matter what my first reaction may be ...
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