Summer Vacation Encouragement

One of my favourite motivational quotes (that I have shared before) is by C.S. Lewis and says “Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different.”  I found myself thinking about this quote a lot in the last week while I was on my holidays.  I have been writing and thinking a great deal about the changes that have been happening in my life while I have been working on my series about why this time is different (which you can read the last entry here) and while I take a break from that series for the week I do still want to share something equally as important.  This last week opened my eyes in a lot of ways at how different my world has become in the last year and a half.

Last July when I headed out to visit my parents I was training to run my very first 5K.  I made the decision that each day while I was on vacation I would go for a walk or run in a different location.  I managed to do this and it was amazing.  This year when I headed out I am again training to run the Terry Fox but certainly my training is a lot different.  I still made plans before heading out for what I would do for exercise and again I stuck to the plan.  Plans aside one of the cool things about these two vacations almost exactly a year apart is that I was able to make a lot of comparisons between the two of them which was incredibly motivating for me.  It proved yet again that all the small changes I have been making are adding up to big results.  I figured I would share a few of the things I noticed.

The first thing I noticed compared to last year was at how much easier it was to run.  Last year I was barely doing intervals and this year I was able to run full intervals throughout each of my runs.  I still find it hard to believe how far I have come in terms of running.  I owe a great deal of it to my trainer for suggesting I try training in a different way and it is working.  I’m running more and more each time I go out.  Another cool part about this vacation when it comes to running is that I think I finally found my pace.  I have been struggling with running outside because I struggle to find a pace I can maintain.  This was not the case while on holidays.  I suspect that because of the fact that I was carrying my camera and taking pictures on my walking intervals it made it easier for me to slow my pace down and be less competitive with myself. I won’t break any records but slowing down meant that basically I was able to interval for much longer periods of time more consistently.  I even very nearly was able to interval an entire 5K, which is something I have been working towards.  My pace is a lot slower than I would like it to be but I’m excited by how long I can keep it up for.  I know that as I continue my pace will increase I just have to keep working at it. 

The second thing I noticed was actually during one of my runs.  Last year I went on a 5k hike to one of my favourite places, the Kinsol Trestle.  This year I was determined that I would do the hike again only instead of walking it I wanted to run it.  I did and it was amazing.  Last year I remember how long that hike felt especially as we were making our way back to the car.  The weather played a part in that as last year it was a hot afternoon than we went.  This year the weather was a little more agreeable to me as it was a cool, wet morning.  As I headed back towards the car this time it was still felt like a long way but the difference was I was running intervals instead of dragging my feet.  I was feeling proud and strong instead of tired and cranky.  Sure it was still tough but the fact that I was running shows my ability to be able to push myself further.  I’m stronger and faster than I was.  The fact that it is still challenging is exciting because it means that I still have more to work on and more to improve which means I can continue to see growth when I do it again.  As soon as I finished the run I was already looking forward to when I would be able to run it again.

The third thing that was apparent is that as far as I have come I still have more to do.  Like the fact that Kinsol was still challenging I also found something else that pushed my limits.  I did a hike up Mount Tzouhalem with my Dad and it was tough.  According to my GPS watch the elevation change was 379 meters which is almost 5 times the elevation change that I had on my Canmore 5k which was about 80 meters different and you can read how challenging that was in this blog entry.  The hike up was tough.  At one point I remember the best I could do was take about 10 steps at a time before I had to stop and catch my breath.  As we neared the top there was also a point where I could feel the shake in my legs.  As hard as it was I still managed to get up to the top (not that I had any doubt I would because I’m stubborn).  Even the walk down was challenging.  I found myself feeling really tired as we came back towards the car.  It will be interesting to see how this improves over the next year or so.  As the weight comes off and my legs continue to gain muscle I suspect that this hike will get easier and easier.  Who knows before long I may try to run it or take up my dad on his offer (?) to hike it from the bottom up to the top. It offers me the chance to have something new to compare to for next time.

The last thing I wanted to share is just a photo.  When I was packing I purposely packed the same exercise gear that I wore last year (minus the shoes) with this photo in mind.  I knew that I was going to ask my Dad to retake the photo because I knew when I compared them side by side I could show just how much a difference small consistent changes can add up over time.  I have been asked lots of time what my secret is and what I’m doing and really what I have decided that it truly boils down to is consistency.  No matter what you do, no matter how small it is, if you do it day in and day out the changes will come.  It will actually start to feel like you aren’t doing anything special (or maybe that could just be me).  I think you just have to have faith in the process.  Trust that if you put one foot in front of the other enough times, even if you fall back sometimes, you will be carried where you want to go.  I still have a lot of steps to go but when I look at these photos and see my shrinking tummy, better fitting shirt and pants and my smile I know that I’m on my way.