One day at a time

When I did my first Ironman in 2005, I used a training plan made specifically for the race (Ironman Florida) which I was doing.   From what I remember, it was a 24 week plan broken up into (4) six week blocks.   What was interesting was that they would only send me the next block of training during the last week of the current block.   And that was a good thing.

The training plan for the Ironman was scary as hell.   If I had looked at the last 4 to 5 weeks before I started the first week, I would have had second thoughts.   But after 18 weeks of training, that last 4 to 5 weeks seemed like a logical procession towards the race.   It was tough, but I had been slowly building up towards it.

I just finished plugging in this weeks marathon training into my computer for my Garmin watch.   It is going to be a tough week again.   I made last week a recovery week, but I don’t feel too recovered.   Especially after a particularly sucky run yesterday.   At least I was not alone in my assessment of yesterday’s run….Christine’s sucked as well.   I think it was a combination of allergies, lack of sleep, and 200% humidity.   Anyway, I didn’t come away with that sense of accomplishment I often get after a good workout.

I have been really struggling with my visions of grandeur and likelyhood of accomplishing my goal.   I just can’t see it right now.   And if I can’t visualize it, it will be difficult to make it happen.   But that doesn’t mean I won’t keep trying.   I am too hard-headed to throw in the towel before I am either unconscious from exhaustion or at the least have multiple compound fractures which prevent me from running.

As I was typing in my workouts, I looked forward in the program to see what I have coming up.   And that was not a good thing.   It will not get any easier.   In all honesty, it will get exponentially more difficult with each passing week.   Just like the Ironman training did.   But back then, I had the luxury of being ignorant to what was around the corner or down the road.   I would just plod along handling workout after workout until I was hit with the next schedule.   And after I got over the shock, I just kept grinding out the miles, step by step, workout by workout, day by day.   “Day by Day” –   that was the key.

Somehow I have forgotten the concept of “One day at a time.”   For some reason I am worried about things that will happen 2 weeks from now, when all I need to take care of is today.   And if God lets me make it through the night, then I will take care of tomorrow.

I don’t know why it has been so hard for this to sink in with me.   Just the other day I wrote about the young boy at St. Jude who passed away.   His father said he would be smiling as long as his son was smiling and enjoy every day he had with him.   And I imagine he had to take everything day by day.   Because that was all he had…..days.

I have 83 days left before this marathon, so I will have to learn to take them one at a time.   And I hope that each day I can be smiling, God can be smiling, and those wonderful children at St. Jude can be smiling.