Taking that first "step" is sometimes the hardest.

After taking two days off to rest my body after my race, I knew that I had to do something today to help clear my mind,body and soul.

However, running was not an option because I needed to take one more day off. As I lay in my bed this morning it felt good not having to get up so early to go for a run. It would have been very easy to take another day off and in my mind I probably could have talked myself into it. After all I just ran 50K and don't I deserve another day off? While I doubt that I would have turned another day into several more, that thought did cross my mind. What if I take another day off and then another until a week went by?

I thought about many of my clients who have to make that same decision on a daily basis. Should I work out or rest? It's very easy to talk ourselves into not doing something but harder to talk ourselves into doing something, especially when it comes to diet and exercise it seems. I could have used the excuse that I was sore and tired but I know that if I did that, my decision would literally eat away at me and I'd feel guilty the rest of the day.

I decided to ride my bike for 45 minutes just to get myself going again. Those first 5 minutes seemed to drag on forever but eventually I settled into a rhythm and stopped worrying so much about how long I was on the bike for. After running for over 6.5 hours on Saturday what's 45 minutes right? (LOL)

When I finished I immediately felt energized and I knew that I made the right decision to exercise. Now my focus is on my first run since my race tomorrow morning. I have no idea how I'm going to feel but my goal is to run between 8 to 12 KM's. Thankfully much of the pain in my knees has faded away and my plantar fasciitis is clearing up as well.

I feel like a kid on Christmas eve as I wait for tomorrow morning to come. I know that my first few steps tomorrow will be difficult, they usually are after doing a race, but I also know that once I find my rhythm I'll feel like I'm "home again."

When you are faced with making the decision on whether to exercise or eat properly, try to think back to a time when you made that right decision and how you felt afterwards. The ability to look back at the positive choices you have made and the feelings that you had are crucial as they can help you when you are faced with a similar situation later in your life. Just remember that it is easy to make excuses and easier yet to justify them. Don't allow yourself to get out of that positive focus you have built.
You have the ability to do anything that you want to but it has to starts with having a positive attitude. Now, go out and exercise and eat healthy.