Challenge Day 8

Here are today's stats:
3.57 miles in 38:58
20 Pushups

So it's day 8 of The Challenge and here are my totals so far:

30.8 miles
621 Situps
841 Pushups

If 2 months ago someone would have told me I would "run" 30 miles in the first 8 days of September I would have told them they were as crazy as crazy can be. I probably would have told them there was no way I could "run" 30 miles in 8 days. I probably would have told them I couldn't run 30 miles in 30 months.
Something happened today at the gym that got me thinking. I ran .5 miles on the treadmill!! That's right! I'm pretty excited about it! I haven't run for any type of distance in years. 1/2 half mile is a big deal for me. For those of you who don't know, I'm down 45 pounds since February. No way I could have run .5 miles at 255 lbs. At that time I didn't have the muscular or cardiovascular endurance to do it. It felt good today to step off the treadmill accomplishing something I haven't done in such a long period of time.

Let's retrain our focus. Pay attention to what you hear next time your in the gym or in any exercise environment. You will hear the focus being put on what someone "can't do" or "can only do". I'm guilty of it too. You will hear phrases like "I can only do 3 reps" or "I can't do ________ (you fill in the blank)". My question is why not? From today forward I plan to focus on what I can do instead of what I can't do. If you can do 10 pushups be proud that you can do 10. If you bench press 155lbs be proud you can bench that. Don't say "I only bench 155" as if there is some shame in that number. There should be no shame, only pride. I'm proud I ran that half mile today. In a few days I hope to stretch that distance to one full mile.

What thing have you put "I can only do" or "I can't do" in front of? Challenge yourself to be better. That being said I will be taking on another challenge. After running today I feel motivated so I have decided to run in the Thanksgiving day 5k in downtown Fredericksburg this year. I now have a new motivation. Do you?