One day at a time

I've had a couple of great races this past weekend. The weather was beautiful, and the races were a blast. I'm starting to meet more & more good folks in the local running community here, and I'm enjoying that.

Leading up to Grandma's and the Twin Cities Marathon (TCM), I've signed up for a bunch of shorter races this spring & summer. Publicly, I've said that I'd just be doing these for fun, and would have no goals for them, but that's not entirely true. I do have goals for the longer ones, since some will be convenient trials for the marathons.

And, indeed, I did have goals for this weekend. They had to do with my big goal, which I have for this year's TCM: a Boston-qualifying time (BQ). To qualify for Boston this year, I need to average 7:30 min/mile, so that was my goal for these races this past weekend. I was able to do it for both, but as I was crossing the finish line each time, I thought to myself, "26.2 miles at THIS pace?!? No effin' way!!!"

I cannot afford to think like that.

Distance-running training is very similar to recovery. If I just stare at a final goal, the road to it looks overwhelming and impassable. But if I take it one day at a time, and work each day to the best of my ability, meeting smaller goals as I go, I travel along that road just fine. Sure, there are inevitable missteps along the way, and it can be discouraging at times on a day-to-day basis, but I simply must do the honest best I can today. If I do that, then I truly can have no regrets with the outcome, even if that means I don't make my goal at the desired time. And that's the cool thing about life - it's rare that you truly don't get a second chance, at least with the really important things ;)

Just as I do a daily 10th Step inventory for recovery, I do the same thing with my BQ goal for running. What right action have I taken today -- just today! -- towards my goal? Where have I fallen short? What is my plan for tomorrow -- just tomorrow! -- to accentuate the positive and amend today's shortcomings?

When I take it one day at a time, my small steps add up to those long distances over time.

When I was in my early sobriety, The Promises of AA seemed completely out of reach to me, but they have all steadily come true over time. Similarly, my goal of doing the TCM last year in under 4 hours seemed beyond reach when I first started training late last season. But each "goal" has been realized one day at a time, and each continues to enrich my life today.

The fruition of AA's The Promises are a blessing that I'm grateful for every day, and my success at the 2008 TCM has motivated me to continue further with running. As a result of each, I've met wonderful, healthy, happy people who enrich my life, and I myself have grown as a happier and healthier person. Good stuff!

If a BQ doesn't happen this season, no worries. Heck, I've got the rest of my life to get one ;)

A work in progress...
----------------
Now playing: billie holiday - i've got a date with a dream