Momentum Monday: Strong or Wimpy?

This week for us, along with much of the country, is quite rainy.  It began really on Friday and hasn't stopped since.  Now I live in the Pacific Northwest where it rains a steady amount for many months of the year, mostly through the fall, winter and some of the spring.  So I'm pretty used to the rain.

That is until I decided to start training for a half marathon during this time of year.

Another caveat is...I don't have a gym membership, so I can't go and run my scheduled mileage on a treadmill when it is raining and storming outside.

Le sigh...

That means my mileage will be come rain or shine, but mostly in the rain.  Which was exhibited this past Saturday.  My long run is scheduled for Saturday mornings and this past morning was quite rainy as shown in this post. Even though it was raining, I still needed to get my mileage in and I can't wait for the rain to stop, otherwise I'd be waiting for spring to come!

So I did it, I ran in the rain and it really wasn't that bad.  It was uncomfortable and my shoes got soaked, but once I was out there, it wasn't that bad.  When I came back from the run I felt amazing and the hot shower afterward was SO nice!

This morning when I was thinking about the momentum mantra for this week, this one stuck out to me as it really rang true this weekend and will for the rest of my training:

source

I could have wimped out this weekend and let the weather dictate when and how I was going to run.  Instead I decided to be strong, mentally and physically, and get out into the elements to get my mileage.  It wasn't the best of conditions and I really put my new running gear to the test.  But I also felt amazing afterwards and knew I'd accomplished more than my mileage for the day.  I had broken through that mental barrier of "I can't" and changed it to "I will".

The change of mindset is the most critical for the duration of my training as we tend to create excuses for why we "can't" instead of letting ourselves be strong and face the opposition by saying we "will".

So for this week, I know there are lots of people who can't get out and run because of their weather issues (East Coast, I'm talking about you and pray for all of your safety), but those of us who can get out, will you be strong (I will) or will you be wimpy (I can't) when it comes to training in the elements?