holding on to each and every little success

For several years in a row, my youngest was diagnosed with pneumonia. It came as no surprise that the onset fell on anniversary (5^th, 6^th & 7^th) of Tom’s death. As an ex-pediatric ICU nurse, I knew all too well how bad it could get.  As a result of this knowledge, I used everything in my skill set to insure his recovery.

Until my own diagnosis with pneumonia, this past  month, I had no idea just how much the illness could affect your heath and well being after the acute phase has ended.  For the most part, I feel much better. However, I am still coughing in spite of finishing my course of antibiotics 2 weeks ago.  *cough*  It’s frustrating.

This past week, I re-initiated my OCR training efforts once again. I am making progress, albeit minimal at this point. Nonetheless, I am encouraged – most days.  Rather than self-bash, I am making an attempt to celebrate the little successes as much as possible.  This requires a fair amount of effort as I easily fall back into comparing my fitness level to the Juls of yesteryear, especially where running is involved.

Small successes this week include:

1. being able to hang from a metal ball or cylinder for several seconds before losing my grip,
2. successfully figuring out a secure footing technique for rope hang (which will eventually allow for a rope climb),
3. 5-mile trail run (with a bit of walking), and
4. completing 30 burpees (broken up into sets of five).

I know; I KNOW!

It’s not much … but I can’t afford to let myself get hung up on how much more progress I need to make.  I just have to keep the effort up and make as much progress as possible (without getting injured) between now and June 9^th.  Hopefully, it will be enough to have a fun and successful Spartan Race. Time (and training) will tell. Until then, I am simply going to hold on to each and every little success and not give up.