"When you're going through hell, keep on going." W. Churchill

Yesterday I ran 2.5 miles and suffered through every inch. I basically gave up at 2.5 miles. A lot had to do with my asthma. I was wheezing and I didn’t have my medication. But it was manageable and I could have finished 3 miles if my mind was set on it. It was torture. It was frustrating. It was hell.

Last night I was researching potential Triathlons for me to sign up for. I narrowed it down to two in June. One in Sacramento and one at Redondo Beach. I’m not sure which one to sign up for. The Sacramento one is appealing because you swim in a lake. But the run is five miles. The one at Redondo Beach is an ocean swim but a shorter run – 5K. But both swims are a half a mile long. Not a quarter mile, but half a mile! Today I had a panic attack at work. I kept thinking to myself, A HALF MILE SWIM? A HALF MILE SWIM?!?! I CAN’T SWIM A HALF MILE!

I wake up in the middle of the night thinking - what did I get myself into? I mean, I’m not going to quit or anything. There’s no way. But my brain is trying to find excuses to get me to quit. Bikes are too expensive. I can’t swim. I can’t even run 3 miles without pain and torture and I have to be able to do at least 5 miles in training to prepare for the Triathlon in June.

Tonight, after a light sushi dinner, I waited about two and a half hours before going to the gym. I stood in the living room, frustrated, stressed and without hope thinking - I’m just going to go to bed. That’s when Donna said to go. So I went.

At half a mile I thought to myself that that was enough of a warm up and just go ahead and do weights. But I decided to force myself to the mile mark where I decided - I’ll just see how much I’ll last. Maybe another half mile. Pretty soon I was at the two mile mark and my brain kept telling me - That’s enough! That’s enough! At 2.5 miles I was already at yesterday’s mark and my brain said - Okay, you made it to yesterday’s mark so you should stop now. But I kept going and pushed it to the end. I was able to hit the 10:41 a mile pace which is nearly 20 seconds faster than Friday’s 11 min/mile pace!

Finishing three miles motivated me to really push my weight training. I did everything with good form and focus. I increased my weight on most exercises and came home completely exhausted!

I have six solid months to learn some serious swim techniques, get on a bike and learn the ways of road cycling and increase my overall endurance so I can run the last leg of a triathlon without dying.

It’ll be hell for sure.

"When you're going through hell, keep on going." W. Churchill

Yeah – that’s my motto!