Day 101: 8 Miles

Wednesday's are beach run mornings. Today was gorgeous. One of the first days where the sky was blue and the sun was shinning ... for the past few months early Wednesday morning's have been white skies and overcast.

I have carved out Wednesday morning's for the long run of the week with shorter runs and cross training on alternate days. Today was great. I ran from the Casa Del Mar Hotel past Temescal to the County Lifeguard Station and back. 8.2 miles. My legs are fine it's the blisters on my feet and my nerve pain in my lower back and tush that are on fire. So as I write this post I am sitting on two ice packs, one on each cheek of my behind! Good times!

While I applaud myself for completing the 8 miles without dying I still can't believe I need to get to 13 miles by Labor Day weekend. That's when I'll be running in the Disneyland half marathon with my pals Mickey & Minnie Mouse ... so I've still got to continue increasing my miles to reach this half way goal of 13 miles.

The strategy is one step at a time, one mile at a time and the inner belief that my body is strong and I can make it to the finish line. No different than the strategy applied for most goals we want to achieve. Whether it's physical fitness, diet, child rearing, work advancement, relationship improvement, all of these take a plan to achieve.

So while I am in pain, and discomfort, I know this will pass as I continue training my body for the physical challenges of running a full marathon. I want to be strong and able for many, many years to come and giving in to your age or your aching ailments as excuses for not pushing yourself, is just a weak state of mind and not a place I want to live in.

So I'll lace up those cute pink Nike running shoes I have again next Wednesday and head to the gorgeous coastline to run another 8 miles, and then 9, 10, 11 , and well you get my plan!