The Little Things
March 9, 2015

“You Can Do Anything For 15 Minutes” I said sternly to myself as I neared the end of my run this past Saturday. I kept moving.

I ended up heading out for my “long run” on Saturday afternoon instead of Sunday morning, due to a retreat that went from Friday at dinner until Saturday at 3 pm. I not only slept very little on Friday night, but I ended up standing on my feet for about 4 hours on Saturday morning. As part of the groups’ retreat, we ended up volunteering at a local community center. I worked in the kitchen preparing the lunch meal, and then stood in the line serving lunch to community members. I loved it! However, not only were my feet pretty tired from standing in one place (totally different than 4 hours of walking!), but I was just tired over all from a full week of work and very little sleep. All of that to say, I knew I wasn’t heading into my run the best that I could…

The day had pretty much everything else going for it though, and I figured that would help. It was 40 degrees out, which to some of you may not seem like a lot, but for this northerner, it was practically a heat wave (I start wearing a tank top and shorts while running by about 45 or 47 degrees!), and I loved it! I wore shorts and a long sleeve (VERY THIN) shirt with mesh sides and a back (I love the shirt!), and my legs loved being out in the fresh air! The sky was blue, the sun was shining, and there was very little wind. Needless to say, it was an absolutely beautiful day!

5.5 Mile Run

The first 3 miles flew by before I started to really feel the tiredness in my legs. To be honest, my legs have felt a little tired and tight all week, so I knew that it would catch up to me at some point. I was listening to the Jillian Michael’s podcast, so I was hoping that would keep me distracted and help me turn over my legs a bit faster than they naturally wanted to.

I was aiming for about 5.5 miles, but by the time I hit about 4 miles, I really wanted to be done. This turned into a mental struggle as I just really wanted to stop my garmin and walk the rest of the way home. Of course I didn’t do that though. I kept telling myself “You can do anything for 15 minutes” and kept putting one foot in front of the next.

I actually appreciate runs like this. While I’m glad these runs don’t happen all the time, I’m also thankful for moments to work on my mental strength in running as much as my physical strength. Runs like this remind me that I CAN do hard things and I can keep going, even when I don’t want to.

Now it’s your turn to share! How do you motivate yourself when you’re struggling to finish a workout? 

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2 responses to “You Can Do Anything For 15 Minutes”

  1. Emilie says:
    March 9, 2015 at 10:06 am

    I’m doing the 21 Day Fix, a 30 minutes workout where you do one move for 60 seconds followed by 15-20 seconds of rest, repeat. The trainer says repeatedly, “you can do anything for 60 seconds” which is so motivating to me. Similarly, I’ve said that to myself during a tough run or even a race. I’m sorry you had a tough run but I’m glad you powered through! Also, 45 degrees is downright balmy these days! The month of February averaged 15 degrees so that is quite a bit warmer than what I’ve been used to!

    • littlethingscaroline@gmail.com says:
      March 9, 2015 at 2:48 pm

      I agree- balmy weather at its finest! It’s motivating to think of something in a little time limit!