Just Keep Moving Forward

I have been feeling really behind lately-in everything.  Housework, training, watering my plants (well...I'm down to one living houseplant now, so I should change that to "plant").  In fact, it's worse than just "behind"....that word seems to imply I can still see the "goal line" and catching up is doable.  The truth is I feel like there is no possible way to catch up at the rate I'm going...I'm just slipping further and further ...behind.

I got to looking at my yard last week.  The boxwoods have been grossly neglected and needed to be cut WAY back.  The crepe myrtles needed to be trimmed.  The monkey grass had not been cut back and is already starting to grow again.  Not to mention the normal everyday mowing, edging and trimming.  My husband SAYS he enjoys yard work....but only after it's done, not at the point in time when it has to be started.  Since I don't work, I  decided if I would just do a little every single day I would eventually have "all" the work done...or at least have it at a manageable level. 

But after four days, it seems everything looks much worse now than it did when I started on it....and because I spent so much time on the bushes in the front, the back yard might take a brush hog to cut.  (Not really, but it does look really bad because the weeds are taking over.)  ((Note to all you people asking why we don't just get a lawn service....remember, I don't work and that was one of the compromises we made for me to stay home.))

Okay....reality check.  The truth is, I really am further along than I was, it just doesn't LOOK like it right now.  The crepe myrtles have been cut, 1/2 the bushes have been cut (and the hedge trimmers are at the shop being sharpened so the rest of the bushes will take 1/2 the time the others did), most of the monkey grass is cut back, the front yard has been mowed and edged.  Yes, I do still have a long way to go but in all fairness, the work will never be "done".  I think the key is learning how to keep everything in balance.

It's the same story with training.  Sometimes I fee like I'm taking one step forward and three steps back.  But, the truth is the steps "backward" are making me stronger so that my "one" step forward is stronger and will propel me farther forward.   (Like the three steps backward are into the pouch of a slingshot...and the "one" step forward is made flying through the air!!!)  For instance...when you work out hard, you are essentially tearing your muscles down...but when they heal, they are stronger than they were before the "damage" was done.

I have to remember to just keep my focus on moving forward, and remember that doesn't always looks the way I think it should.  I also have to keep in mind that the way something FEELS isn't always a good indicator of the truth.  For example, this morning I biked 15 miles then ran 3.  When I got off the bike and started running, it felt like I was moving at about a 12 minute pace.  My legs felt like lead weights moving through molasses.  According to my Garmin...I was under a ten minute pace.  Thankfully I had something other than my subjective feelings on which to base my progress!!

In the words of Winston Churchill...Never, never, never give up.  But, I think when I go to do my first tri next week I'll keep the words of Dory (from Finding Nemo) in mind..."just keep swimming, swimming, swimming..." and hopefully that will help me just keep moving forward!

Thanks for stopping in.  Come again soon! :D