Moving Forward

The voices in your head. What do they tell you? Mine are constantly shouting negative thoughts at me. My thoughts hold me back from reaching for things I want and moving forward. But moving forward I am, with the hope of changing the messages of these voices along the way.

This blog was going to be a way to keep my family and friends updated on my physical training for the Kansas Half Ironman. This event will be the most challenging task I have ever considered taking on (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run). It took months for me to commit. Not because of the time commitment, but because the voices in my head were telling me I wasn't a strong enough swimmer, tough enough cyclist, or fast enough runner.

24 weeks. That's how long I've planned to properly train my body for this endurance event. This length of time will allow me to gradually increase the workload so I don't overtrain my body and/or injure myself from asking it to do too much before it is ready.

Training began on Tuesday this week and by noon (before I had even started either of my two workouts for the day), my voices were telling me I wouldn't make it. After the workouts, these voices questioned whether or not I'd be able to complete my training, much less cross the finish line. It wasn't until Wednesday's run on the treadmill, as I was singing (yes, singing out loud and off key in the corner at the gym) along to the lyrics of a favorite song that I resolved to make this a journey about more than the physcial aspect but to include the mental. My end goal is no longer to finish the race, but to cross the finish line with positive voices inside my head cheering me on. Cheering me on and moving me forward.

"You're so mean, when you talk
About yourself, you are wrong
Change the voices in your head
Make them like you instead"
Pink ~ F*ckin' Perfect