March was an amazing month. A hard month, but an amazing month.
March was Lent and I was focusing on a lot beyond physical training. I was focused on my spiritual life and the relationships around me. I would love to say all is AMAZING but it wasn't but yes, March was amazing.
Why?
The last quarter of last year sucked. I felt like a ton of bricks. Then Christmas came and I received the gift of the lead falling off my legs and being able to run again without pain and overwhelming sadness. The veil of depression was lifting but it was still a struggle. I had many low mileage days and that is okay. At least I was running. I was moving forward.
The end of Lent, those last two weeks of March, had a similar unveiling. My running mojo was improving more. Running was becoming fun again. I was logging more miles and I thank God for this gift. But I also realize I needed to be able to see and recognize the gift in order to accept it, to benefit from it.
I also spent March reading The Love Dare and have now started the parent version of the same book. It is opening my eyes to things I already knew but maybe did not fully embrace. Love is a choice. I can't make people love me or act in lovable ways but I can choose love.
All my life I have struggled with wanting to be accepted, to feel lovable, to feel like I am doing good. I thrived on affirmation from others.
This left me in a not so good place and now I see it is kinda a selfish way of living. Way too much focus on me and what I get in return. I needed to learn to love even the unlovable. I needed to learn to love even when I was not being praised. YIKES! That "love your enemy" was hitting home....not that I am calling those around me enemies but you get the point.
And for the first time that I can ever remember, when I was being told off, brought down, and in the face of pretty much being told "you suck", I remained calm and peaceful in God's love....and was mocked for it....but inside I was doing the biggest happy dance ever! I was not being provoked to be mean and unloving. I was being love.
I could not get to this point without all the up's and down's in my life and those training/running hurdles, they helped me get to this point. If you never experience the down, how can you fully appreciate the up?
Darling daughter is learning a similar lesson in her riding right now. I am glad I had the experience of running ruts and struggles to relate to her. To have empathy. To help her through the rough patch and hearing her happy voice after a good lesson (kinda like a good run for me) was the best thing in the world!
Seriously.
It was better than winning the race!
And to really feel that, to appreciate that, I need to embrace the struggles in my life and invest in myself, in personal development, and to focus on my actions...not theirs. Y'all, you can't make anyone or anything in the world go the way you think it should. Sorry, you can't. But you can control how you act, how you train, what you do. Do that. It matters. It will bring you the calm in the storm you may need...sometimes more often than you think.
So by embracing the training storm, checking in and looking at what I am doing, looking at my stats, beginning to record how the running is making me feel each day, adding mood to miles, I was able to crank up my training the second half of March and that is pretty cool!
I ended up with 100 running miles and 29 hours of working out. I do well emotionally with an hour a day of working out and I was pretty close to that with just over 56 minutes a day. That is exciting news!
My 2018 goal is 1,170 miles. I am at 254 miles with 85 in January and 69 in February. That makes 100 this month even more exciting! The best month this year...even if not the best in my life. And I need to average just under 102 miles a month for the rest of the year to hit my goal. That seems completely doable, doesn't it?!
By the end of March I also completed 18 new workouts! I had 10 by the end of February so once again, I am happy with my progress. My goal is 70 in 2018 so to achieve this I need to do about 6 new workouts a month. Again, I can do this! I just need to find a new program and get going. Ready, set, sweat!
With more running time it may be a struggle but I am up for the challenge. After all, you get out of life what you put into life. You can't expect to be better, do better, live better if you aren't willing to put in the work and change yourself. I am ready to continue to grow, how about you?
I believe April will be another AMAZING month and I am excited to hit running streak day 2300 because for each 100 day mark, I get to treat myself to a running and working out treat...maybe a treat from BondiBand - you can get 10% off your BondiBand purchase with EGFITNESS. :)
Daily Gratitude: I am thankful for a great March! And for personal growth due to the grace of God.
Daily Bible Verse: So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. ~ Isaiah 41:10
P.S. Get 20% off of SOS, the hydration I love, with coupon code EGFITNESS