Just a Few Minutes of Your Life

Today's Run: Week 7 Day 2 of the iPhone couch to 5K app. 5 minutes walking warm up. Jog 20 Min. Walk 2 min. Run 1 min then 5 minutes walking cool down. Went about 2 1/4 miles.



Even though I have gone further distances before, for some reason I was dragging after only about 5 minutes of running this morning. Since I had to push to a 20 minute segment today this was not good to feel myself lagging so early on. I had a momentary pity party where I thought about how much I actually hate sweating and exercise. I decided "I can't do this today. I'm just not up to it. I'm not going to finish."  But then that little voice in my head spoke up (you know that annoying one that tells you what you would rather not hear, but know is right?) It told the whiny voice to be quiet, and then slapped me in the face and focused my attention. Basically this was the gist of the conversation:

"Ok listen, I know you're tired today and feeling a little off. But so far you have finished every workout you set out to do. It would be a shame to quit today. And besides, think about it...really we're only talking about 15 minutes of your life here. Even if it's uncomfortable, it's only 15 minutes. What else would you be doing instead? Watching TV? Eating cookies? (oops that was sounding kinda good so I had to shift gears quick) doing the dishes? running errands? All those things are fine, but can easily wait until later. I mean it's not like this program takes all day. It's 15 minutes of keeping your feet moving and you're done. (by now I was down to 13 1/2 min. by the way)  Why bother?? Because that 15 minutes spent now means a healthier life. It means more energy and stamina both for chores and play. It means endorphins and happiness for hours. It means smaller jeans (and let's face it - as a newly single 40 something chick, self esteem boosters are pretty important.) It means giving yourself the gift of time and finishing what you start. DO NOT STOP! It's only 15 minutes.

I was now down to about 12 minutes and feeling pretty motivated again. For awhile. Then I had to begin the pep talk again...

"It's only 7 minutes of your life. What else would you be doing right now anyway?"

And before I knew it, the 20 minute segment was over and I got to walk for a couple of minutes. By this time I was so pumped and proud of myself that my feet were still moving, that when I did the extra little one minute run, I cranked the treadmill up to what for me is a very fast speed - 6! It felt fantastic. And then, just like that, I was done. And the endorphins and I skipped home.

We all have 1,440 minutes every day to spend as we choose. Many of those minutes are dedicated to the "have to's" of our lives of course. If we're honest though we know that many minutes are discretionary. There are no right or wrong answers on how to while away the minutes, but one thing is for sure. The time spent devoted to fitness pays dividends that bless you far beyond the few minutes it takes to do the workout.  So when you feel like quitting some days just stop and think ...well actually don't stop - keep running and think...it's just a few minutes of your life that can make the rest of your time so much better! Hang in there! You'll be glad you did.