Stronger Than Yesterday

I'm going against every traditional training rule in running. I know better, but.... I'm going with it anyway.

  I have a race this Saturday. A half marathon. This winter has been brutal, and training has not been up to par. I've never quit running, but it would suffice to say that I have been training for an event more like a 10K than a half marathon.  I also was training for an April race and not a March race. But that being said, when an opportunity comes my way,  I can't really pass it up. And so, I will be running a half marathon on Saturday. 

 I told myself it is going to hurt. I know I can finish, but I know it is going to be a challenge for me. A new challenge. At the start of this year, I was setting out with a specific time goal for my spring half marathons. As winter grew colder, that goal shifted to become a perhaps fall goal. 

  All those things in consideration, I switched my training method. Last Week. You aren't supposed to change your training method a week before a race. I always said I will not be a walker during my races. I like to run. But, I have succumbed to the fact that I will have to do some walking. And thus, I switched my training to the Galloway Method. If you're unfamiliar with it, the gist is that you run so many minutes, walk so many, it's up to you the ratio. 

 I was unsure of this. It feels a bit like cheating myself out of a good run. But I tried it and, for now, have fallen in love with the method. I feel amazing when my run is finished.  I'm pacing myself the right way for the first time all winter. And I am very excited to try this method out in the half marathon on Saturday. After a winter full of obstacles in my running journey,  I am very much looking forward to my race this Saturday. 

 As I ran 8 miles over the weekend with this method, many thoughts pushed through my mind. But the one that kept repeating itself over and over will be my running mantra for this race.

 I do not always choose a mantra, but I did in my last race in December, and apparently, I have one for this week's as well.

   Stronger than Yesterday.

I am stronger than yesterday. 

   I can do this run.

    I will conquer these miles. 

 I am capable. 

    I am stronger than I think.

    I am stronger than I give myself credit for.

      I am certainly stronger today than I was yesterday.

Stronger emotionally.

   Stronger physically.

    Stronger mentally. 

 Each new day is a day that His strength is made perfect in my weaknesses. 

    I am stronger than yesterday, and I will conquer and finish. I will not quit. I will not give up. I will not quit dreaming. I will not stop being me. I am stronger than yesterday. 

          So I will carry that mantra through my race this weekend. It's a life mantra as much as a running mantra. 

  I am Stronger than Yesterday. Because He has made me that way. 

     And I cannot wait to conquer a new course this weekend.