Oops! and Aaahh...

Today started off with an Oops! I had a bit of an alarm clock malfunction (ie: user error), and unfortunately it didn't go off until much too late to get in my morning run. Right off the bat, this made me a bit stressed out because I know my track record here. Same ol' story...miss the morning work-out, say great things about how I plan to make it up in the evening, spend the first 3/4 of the day still planning on making it up, then slowly slip into spend the remaining 1/4 being bombarded with life and finding a hundred reasons why I "deserve" or would be justified in just skipping the day's workout. Right about here is where my grand master plan usually falls apart. Right about here is where I start letting myself off the hook to follow through. Eventually, this turns into a few days in a row of missed workouts, which turns into justifying eating more junk, which turns into a disaster. I find myself right back at the starting line all over again, and all because I made excuses.
Today, however, I was determined to not let it happen again. I told myself over and over today that I was going for a run tonight, no matter what. I even made sure to tell Jason so that someone else knew I was planning to go. No matter who came over, no matter how much fun we would have, no matter how comfy the couch. I was not going to slack off on Day 5, and then have to come here and make excuses in writing. Making excuses in your head is one thing, but to put them in writing for all to see is another altogether. It puts your excuses on display. Seeing them in black and white just makes them seem even more invalid than they already are.
It was definitely challenging, and a HUGE part of me wanted nothing more than to flop on the couch after getting Nick in bed. When I say huge, I don't mean devil-on-my-shoulder kind of temptation. I mean gargantuan, life-sized demon staring me in the face with an ice cream sandwich and the DVR remote on a silver platter, coaxing me toward the coach. But, I somehow managed to resist, laced up my running shoes, and finally headed for the gym.
I can't even explain how amazing it felt to hear Allison (she's the voice on my training app) say "Workout Complete!" Aaahhh....