Breaking the cycle of 'Almost'.

My entire life has been comprised of cycles of 'almost'. Last year, I 'almost' skated 500 miles for the year. I 'almost' finished P90X... Over the years I've 'almost' gotten promotions, 'almost' finished school; 'almost' got into that dress I bought that was two sizes too small... and so on.... and so forth. I'm pretty sure part of this is due to the mere fact that by nature I'm pretty lazy. I'm also easily distracted. AND - I tend to let fear rule my world. Fear causes hesitation; hesitation makes me falter - and if I falter: I fail. I believe that the key to breaking the cycle of almost is conquering my fear. Once I get a taste of success, I doubt if I'll ever settle for 'almost' again.

And believe me, I'm getting pretty sick and tired of 'almost'.

I turned 40 this past January, and I made a promise to myself that this would be the year that I got into the best shape of my life. I'm old enough to let go of the insecurities and hang-ups of my youth; and yet still young enough to push my body to extremes. I skate in spandex with my pot belly on full display and couldn't care less - back in my 20's this would have caused hesitation. I also skate farther than I ever have before because I don't hit a particular point on the trail and then turn around because mentally I don't think I can go any farther. If I feel pretty good and I'm not too tired - I keep going. The goal is to get rid of the pot belly and I can't do that sitting on my sofa hiding from the world.

I've had some issues getting on track of course. I got really sick in February and then again at the end of April, then I went on vacation - I know, excuses, excuses. So when we got back from vacation I plunged head first into a program of 3 days of P90X weight training, and 3 days of skating per week. That was on May 13th. I'm almost done with my 7th week of sticking to this program. My workout program is the P90X phase two weight workouts (Chest/Shoulders/Triceps, Back/Biceps, and Legs/Back) I try to skate 2 'short' 15-20 mile skates during the week and one long (20+) mile skate on the weekend. I still need to figure out where to squeeze in the 16 minute ab workout 3x a week: I'm usually pretty trashed after the workouts and don't have the juice. It is on the agenda to start happening.

I'm also still sorting out the nutrition side of the equation but I don't eat any fast food or junk food and I don't drink any soda. I try to make sure I'm getting enough protein and not too many carbs. My weaknesses tend to be sweets, flavored coffee creamer, and salad dressing. (I guess in the grand scheme of things, 2 tbsp of coffee creamer has got to be way better than say, a Whopper with fries, right??) It's a work in progress, it doesn't feel like I've 'almost' got it, it just feels like an ever evolving process. I like that...

I am in the midst of a complete transformation. Feeling fit and healthy gives me a level of confidence like nothing else can. I feel strong, but it's not just physical strength: it's mental strength as well. The kind that makes me say no to the office donuts because I want to enjoy the oatmeal I brought - especially knowing that I'll be skating hard later and cannot afford the sugar crash! I view my body as a machine that needs to be taken care of for optimum performance. I see this as progress and I'm feeling really positive!!!

The trail behind the Englewood Municipal golf course off of Oxford Ave.

Current Skating Stats:
Year to date mileage: 611 (as of 6/28/11)
Top marathon time: 2:00:06 (accomplished on 6/26/11)
Top half marathon time: 58:19 (accomplished on 6/26/11)