Two thoughts - 1 pondering, 1 proud

Here are my thoughts, in order in which I had them... First the "Pondering"

Compromise vs. Commitment - Last Thursday, after Derek and I put the kids to bed, I hemmed and hawed for a bit about going out to the shed to run, knowing that my favorite show, 30 Rock, would soon air for the first time after the way-too-long writer's strike. Derek said, "Go ahead, you have 38 minutes before it's on!" So, by the time I got out there, after changing and all, I had less than 30 minutes; I knew I was going to miss some of my fave gal Liz Lemon. I tried to concentrate at the effort at hand and juggle in my mind which was a better choice for me, to watch this show, which makes me laugh and reminds me of all the zaniness in the exotic and chaotic world of business and New York, or persevering in this new discipline of running. I knew Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin would never know if I tuned in or not, and I could catch the rerun in the summer. On the other hand, would 5 or 10 more minutes today really make a difference in August? At the end of it all, I compromised, I missed the first 5 minutes of the show, and ran only 28 minutes. A lose-lose in my book. I was disappointed with my time and distance (1.7 miles), and I was bummed I missed the hip theme song and plot introduction.

Later that night, I conceded to myself that I really should have honored my long term commitment to training for this race. And I began to think that most long term commitments are for the best - savings (huh?), marriage, raising your kids instead of selling them, even training to run a half marathon. Running, even in our smelly shed, certainly was more important/substantial to my life than Hollywood. When thought of that way, why did I ever question it? This lesson renewed my commitment to long term commitments and how sometimes distractions along the way can be fool's gold.

Now my proud moment - I ran 2.5 miles yesterday in 35 minutes. I was floored - the thought of running more than 2 miles was beyond me, let alone a whole half mile more than the original 2, which I couldn't even muster up several nights earlier! I mentioned it today to a few people and they were really pleased for me. I'm pleased for me. Group training starts this Saturday and I was nervous about running a mile - it looks like I can really do it! Being fully committed to my commitment is all right! :)