There is a simple reason that I will lose the weight I said I would in the time frame I said I would.
A story from my past will explain.
Growing up in Washington state, I ran cross country in the fall and track in the spring. I specialized in long distance running. High school cross country races were three miles long. The best time I ever had for that distance over a cross country course was 15:04 during my senior year, that’s a little more than 5:01 per mile.
In track I ran the 3200 meter race – the longest distance race in high school. 3200 meters is slightly short of 2 miles. Your 3200 meter time is usually about 1 second faster than it you ran exactly 2 miles.
I am telling you this because my high school running experiences are what first made me realized that I could accomplish anything.
My “defining” moment occurred in January of my junior year in high school. One evening, a wet, rainy, and cold evening during the school week, I drove over to Lincoln high school to run intervals with a bunch of other runners. One of my teammates and I would run workouts with this group of people throughout the winter. I remember arrived at the parking lot, getting out of the car, pulling the hood over my head and jogging over to the top the stadium and starting to descend the steps down to the track. At the very moment I started down the wet steps in the cold weather as I was looking across the bowl with the drizzle falling, I told myself that if I was going to spend this much time and effort on running then I was going to make it to the state meet in the 3200 meter race that year. It really was in that exact moment that I made up my mind. I never thought that same thought with that much clarity again. It was a call to define exactly what I was doing.
I can remember that moment as if it just happened and when I think of that moment my heart rate increases slightly.
The way to get to the state meet is to be one of the top five finishers out of the sixteen runners in the district meet. The way to get to the district meet was to be one of the top six finishers in the league meet. Getting in the league meet just required that you actually run.
I had a good season, I won a few races. I came in second place a number of times. For the league meet I finished in 4th place and qualified for the district meet. The first place finisher in the league was another junior from a different high school. The second and third place finishers were seniors from other high schools. The third place finisher competed in the state meet during the prior year.
There are three leagues that sent runners to the district meet. If you figure that I was fourth in my league and that the other leagues have runners of the same ability, you would expect that I would finish somewhere around 12th place.
One of the other districts had last year’s 3200 meter runner up. His personal best time for the 3200 meter race was about 30 seconds faster than mine – that’s a world of difference in that distance.
Given that I was one of the slower racers based on my league finish, I was place in the second row of runners at the starting line, eight runners on the first line, eight runners on the second line.
The gun signaled the start of the race and we were off. I can’t recall details about the race other than the fact that I was passing other runners throughout the race and at the start of the bell lap I was in third place! That didn’t last long as two other runners passed me on the back stretch with less than 300 meters to go. I was now in fifth place – the final qualifying spot for a berth in the state championship. The last 100 meters was an all out sprint to the line with other runners breathing down my neck (I could hear their footsteps closing in on me). It is a horrible feeling to feel that you are being tracked down and someone is going to pass you. My experience has been that being the chaser is a much more powerful position than being the chasse.
I ended up finishing in fifth place! I was not passed at the finish line. The black and white photo that a friend took after I just finished the line shows my hunched over with my mouth wide open. Also in the picture just behind me is the other junior runner from my league – the league winner – standing up and obviously unhappy with the results. Who would have thunk that would have happened?
I also remember having a splitting headache right after finishing the race. My head literally felt like it was split open right down the middle. This race was a personal best time for me by 14 seconds.
You heard this story from me because the same thing has happened recently. I have made up my mind to lose 23 pounds by the end of 2007. My moment of clarity occurred when my 67 year old dad came to visit recently. For better or worse, I could see myself becoming my father – and why wouldn’t I. My father’s health is not good, plain and simple. He is in the obese category. Don’t get me wrong, I love my father. I have no intentions of continuing the weight gain I have started over 10 years ago.
[tags]weight loss, running, exercise, mind control, motivation, personal goal[/tags]
