Squashing Personal Devils

Today I woke up and went running. I have to be honest that I didn't really want to. In fact, I had already started the negative self-talk BEFORE I even walked out the door. This was a problem.

On Tuesday, when I woke up, I kept telling myself that I could run. I could do this. I was going to prove negative talkers wrong. It was all positive talk.

Today, however, I woke up thinking about how hard this was going to be. I kept telling myself, "you're too tired," or "you're going to injure yourself," or, "stop trying to say you're a runner. You know you're not," or "don't you have better things to be doing?"

I felt like Kronk, and I didn't know what to believe.

But, I persevered. I got out, and I ran.

It was a tougher run because I was fighting against myself mentally. I kept hearing that shoulder devil saying, "Go ahead and stop. You're tired. You don't have to push yourself. No one will know if you stop and walk. Just walk. After all, 12 minutes is SO long."

"Quiet," I replied, "I can do this. I did it on Tuesday."

"Yeah," said the devil, "but that was just a fluke. You're more tired today. You can't repeat it."

I began to feel defeated. Finally I said to myself, "NO. YOU WILL NOT STOP. RUN, RUN, RUN. Focus on something else! Don't think about your breathing, or your body, or the pain. Think of something ELSE. ANYTHING. Just RUN, RUN, RUN. YOU WILL NOT STOP!!"

I didn't stop. I ran the whole time.

Today's log: 12 minutes, 4.4 mph, 1.3 miles.

Take that, stupid shoulder devil. Take that!