Day Four in Front, 62 to Follow

Tonight I am, as we say in the South, whupped. Today started early, 5:00 am in fact, when I rolled out of bed to eat a bananas and cheerios breakfast. It was an early rising for a Saturday, but I needed to be fueled for my 6:00 am walk. Today Lynnette and I were going for 12 miles in our training plan.

And so we did. With the weather looking promising, we packed water, stopped for a snack at the neighborhood grocery, and waited for Molly to bring replenishment at Mile 10. Finally, after climbing that final hill, we trudged back to the house. The day was looking good for my weight and clothes goals.

From there it sort of went downhill. Molly and friends brought by Starbucks, followed by lunch from Cheesecake Factory. I had the Navajo sandwich WITH french fries, and ate every bite. It was delicious, but I could hear my points calculator spinning out of control.

It continued to be a good news/bad news food day. The good news was I continued to convince myself that chocolate should not be an activity of choice. The bad news was that I thought a bite of Scout's cheesecake was. The good news was that the bite I ate was not all that fabulous, so I managed to refuse the remainder of the cheesecake. The bad news was that I kept bringing up the chocolate to myself all afternoon. The good news was that I continued to refuse the chocolate. I decided it was time for a nap.

After a doze on the couch and awaking somewhat refreshed, I decided to tackle the carport, which had become a mess. I moved things around, swept the floor, installed hooks for hanging stuff, and organized our stuff. Completely grungy by now, I showered, and spent most of the remainder of the day on the couch.

So, how did today stack up? At first, I thought I might get discouraged just because of one reckless meal. But instead, it reinforced my thought that I cannot let just one thing determine the success or failure of a day. The fact is, I did make progress today. Twelve miles is one short of a half marathon, and while our time today was slow, the miles are there - now I just need to work on my pace. Maybe all those miles today cancelled out some of today's lunch points.

Today was a day that could have appeared dismal. I could have focused on the things I failed to accomplish. But I realized there were too many good things to celebrate. Things like:

Being thankful for Lynnette who walks slow with me for our cause, and thankful for Molly who hauled herself out of bed to bring us liquids.

Being thankful I have an iSqueeze, that I used about ten times today to massage my aching dogs.

Being thankful for the days that I don't make huge leaps in pursuit of my eight goals - some days I just need to sit and rest. Every day is a day to be thankful - sometimes we just have to look a little deeper to find those blessings.

Today I walked twelve miles, I cleaned the carport, I washed my car, I took naps, and I sat. Today was a day to work, to indulge, and to recover. Today was a good day.