Don't be a quitter

Today I pushed myself on the stairs at Harvard. Two weeks ago I made it up 3 full flights, last week it was 5 and today the goal was 7-10. I managed to make it up 11 flights.  My level of soreness also has shifted.  After that first day, I hurt for 3 days and could barely move. Last week my legs were all wobbly for a while, but the soreness wasn't there.  Today just feels good.


But I didn't do it alone.

Here's the cool thing about this group, we help each other. I was struggling a bit up part of the way through when someone high-dived me and said, "You can do it!"  With a renewed smiled, I pushed on.  As I sat at the bottom after 10, I figured I was done. Someone sat down next to me and we chatted as she took a break. She told me I had one more in me. She convinced me that I had one more in me and I figured, "Why not try?"

I pushed myself slowly up, one step at a time, until I reached the top. There I was, facing the end zone and the word CRIMSON in big white letters. I had done it. Eleven flights, 100 yards, 330 or so steps.

Today I fell back on one of my music standards to drive me on. Flatfoot 56 is a Celtic punk band from Chicago. I love the steady rhythm and they have one of the best pipers out there. (I love Spicy McHaggis from the Dropkicks, but Flatfoot's piper is better.) The other thing about Flatfoot is they have inspirational lyrics. Being a Christian band, sometimes the message can get a bit heavy handed but then you hear something like, "Be a man, don't be a quitter," when you're thinking you can't move another step and suddenly you feel the right foot step up, then the left until I was standing at the top.

Next week the goal is 15 sections. Friday I'm pushing for 3 hill repeats.that will make 5 workouts with November Project this month. I hope to get back to yoga soon and swimming next week when my schedule lightens up a bit. In the meantime, I'll use the insanity of these work outs to keep myself sane.