RIKE not BRICK

Well...I hoped to do a nice brick workout today. Woke up...couldnt find the bike pump (moving mishap)....hubby couldnt find it either. So I decided to do the run first...and put him on a man hunt. And then bike later....so hence RIKE. A lil backwards..and I think there will be a short intermission between the running and biking...but still a RIKE workout in my book. (I invented it..I make the rules!)

The run...was 3.5 miles on a 9 min/mile pace! This is a VAST improvement over my 11/mile pace the week after the marathon. Hopefully I'm good to go and can look forward to the half marathon on May 18th.

Not sure if any of you have heard of Randy Pausch?! The professor from Carnegie Mellon with pancreatic cancer. ABout 7 months ago they gave him 3-6 months to live...and hes famous for "The Last Lecture." He's been on Oprah..and prob a handful of other shows. Anyway...google him..and watch some of his videos. They are SOOO inspirational. He is looking in the eyes of death...but yet never worries about what the next day will bring. He is all about celebrating life...and not worrying so much about the rest. He bikes for an hour everyday...and runs races. He really focuses on accomplishing dreams. Setting goals...and achieving those dreams.

SO many people begin to set a goal for themselves and before they finish the sentence of what they want to accomplish, they already have doubted themselves...and end up saying "nah...I cant do that." Even if you cant accomplish your goals, if you at least try, you are so much further. You learn and grow through failure and its a step closer to ACHIEVING that goal. I for one have experience with this. I was the one that said run a 10 k? ...OK....oh geez...what if I dont finish? What am I going to tell people when i fail..or if im really slow? yeah...forget running a 10k. I'll just jog for fun...then I won't ever have to face failure.

This was me...the old me. I was always a high achiever......IN THINGS I WAS GOOD AT. Like school for instance. I have always done well...set goals...and succeeded. But I never really worried about failing. I knew I was good at it. Anything I had the slightest doubt in myself with...I would not even attempt. I had too much pride to stare into the mirror and see failure. But then something changed. I was busting my ass in graduate school, spending countless hours in the operating room and many many more in class...and then studying all night. Day after day after day. My life became a high speed chase....with no turns. It was boring, I was stressed, unhappy and looking for an out.

In december I decided to go on a cruise with my mom and some girlfriends. I decided to check out the fitness center in hopes to not gain 50 lbs while eating the marvelous food on the ship. It was BEAUTIFUL!

There were treadmills that just stared out into the middle of the ocean...where nothing could be seen. I fell in love. Everday at 7am I would get up and walk a mile with my Mom on the track around the boat. It was great mother/daughter time. Then I would go straight to the fitness center and jump on the treadmill. First day I ran about 3 miles. I could not get off the treadmill....it was just too beautiful. It was on that cruise that I told my mom I would run the half marathon with her in Cleveland in May. Those feelings of facing failure immediately started circulating in my head. I tried so hard to push them out.

I still had 2 weeks of break...so I knew I could workout hard during those weeks. I'll never forget how scared I was to do my first long run of 5 miles. I kept telling my friend Danielle "I'm so scared...what if I can't do it?" It's so funny to look back now. I was terrified that when the grueling 15 hour days of school started back up that I wouldn't be able to keep up with the training. I did my best to make my schedule work for me. I always had my off days during the week..usually one was the night before our exam day (We have 2 tests every friday). And what do you know? A short 5 weeks after that cruise...I ran a half marathon. WHAT? but Christine..you said you told your Mom you would do one in MAY! not JANUARY!? Ah HA! YOu see.....this time...I used being scared of failure to push me...instead of making me give up. I was so scared that I might not finish in May....when everyone was watching that I decided to just give it a shot in Jan. And then if I did it...I would lose that fear of failing. It worked!!

It threw me into a whole new world and changed my life. I am now not afraid of failure...at all. I laugh in the face of it. I am now in a whirlwind of setting goals and living life to the fullest. Here are my goals....thanks Dr. Randy Pausch

1) Do an IronMan
2) Become a Pilot
3) Qualify for the Boston Marathon

Those are like my long term life long goals. I can already cross run a marathon off my list...YESSSS! Make some goals...write them down...put them on your blog. Make everyday a step closer towards achieving them. I will never forget this quote that my good buddy Benson wrote on my blog when I asked if I should go for that half marathon 5 weeks after starting..

Mark Allen says "Unless you test yourself, you stagnate. Unless you try to go way beyond what you've been able to do before, you won't develop and grow. When you go for it 100%, when you don't have the fear of "what if I fail," that's when you learn. That's when you're really living."


I have used it so many times. Get up...and go get em! You have one chance to live April 19th, 2008...how are YOU going to live it? Carpe Diem! Holla..