Coming into 2012, I told both Coach Jim and Kurt that I wanted to step up my game. I told them as much for my own sake -- I needed to say it out loud, I needed to hear it. After a year of being conservative with injuries and issues, I am ready and more than eager to fire on all cylinders.
I've started venturing out of the safety of my "little kingdom" of things I know I can do and things that are comfortable. On Saturday I encountered my first "dragon".
I came into a long run not very fresh but expecting to hit some specific race paces in the midsection. Partway through the race pace section, my times fell off just a bit, just enough for the mental floodgates of negativity to open WIDE and for the can'ts and not-good-enoughs to come rushing through. I'm generally a very positive can-do person, so it was pretty startling to realize I had that negativity in there, just waiting to pounce. I regrouped and told myself to ignore the watch, find some flow, and finish happy, as I did. But the experience shook me.
Then as I reflected on what happened, I realized that I asked for this. I asked to step up my game, asked for more. I invited the dragons and have to be prepared to do battle with them. The alternative is to dial things back and settle. That's not me. Bring on the dragons.
Swim Bike Mom shared about the Day I Almost Quit. She slayed her dragons that day too.
What are your dragons?