Dearest snails, if there is one thing I would love for you to get out of visiting this little place on the web, is that Rome was not built in a day. In fact, it took many, many days. However, those crazy Romans worked on it every day.
Each day brought them a little more progress. Some days there were setbacks, some days they got a little further along than they thought they would. But everyday, there was work done.
You will not go from couch potato to running a 5k in one day – but you CAN go from couch potato to running a few minutes in one day. Then the next time you go out, you run a little more. Each time you go out, you will go a little further, perhaps a little faster. Your legs will get stronger and your lungs will adapt to this new effort.
Celebrate these victories and have a little patience with yourself when things might not go as you think they should. Human bodies are weird creations and sometimes defy what should happen and do their own thing. It’s ok. There will be some days where your bod rebels and you feel like your legs are cased in concrete, then other days will swear that Hermes had come down and shared some of his mythic powers with you.
Spend a few moments after a run and go over what felt good and what didn’t feel so good. Even if your “feel good” moment was, as mine often was when I started, “I didn’t die” celebrate it. You finished that day’s workout! After a few weeks of progressing, you might even go back and repeat a workout from your first week for tangible proof of how much you have improved. You’ll amaze yourself.
Every so often, figure out a little reward for your hard work and dedication. It can be something as simple as a soak in a tub of bubbles or a new pair of socks, or something more grand for larger accomplishments.
Keep working on your own version of Rome and see what amazing things come from it.
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