Fending off discouragement

How do you fend off being discouraged? As of this week, I've found the best way [for me], is to just yell at myself to get out there and get it done! And it's been working.
I may not want to exercise this week, I'm in a slump.
But I can't stay in the slump. I can't listen to it.
I have to get OUTSIDE and get MOVING.

I try to go as far as I can - because I know I have to turn around and track that distance in order to get home.

This week I've been doing 4 miles. I like this distance. It's very manageable for me, and Cody [maybe].
Speaking of Cody. I feel like he's not in shape to be doing 4 miles - at the end of the runs he's very lethargic for the rest of the day, and the past 2 days really sensitive in his hind quarters.
If there's any similarity - this is a sign of his lack of stretching.
I tried to tell him.
But really...I think I need to somehow figure out a way to get him to stretch, otherwise I may end up injuring him on a run [or worse]. We can't afford any broken hips on this dog!

When I go outside and run - the first mile is uphill. It's hard. I have to walk some of it. And that's okay, because someday I know I'll be able to run the whole thing.
1.5 miles in, it get's really uphill, pretty extreme. I try my hardest to jog up it. And yesterday I almost made it up the whole hill. As we all know, what goes up must come back down, right? So the downhill's I run - sprint - because I love running downhill for some reason. Anyways, at my 2.0 mile marker we turned around, jogged another mile through the hilly avenue, and got to the final upward climb. I wanted to run the whole thing. I was determined. And then something happened that made me start walking and want to cry.

This guy. He just effortlessly ran past us, no big deal. And I'm pretty sure he was in his 70's! 

After I got over my moment of self pity, I realized I needed to stop feeling defeated. I have to remind myself constantly that this is a process. It's not going to happen overnight. Or in a week for that matter.

It might even take me the next two months to be able to run up this hill, completely running. 

But if I don't get out there everyday and push myself a little bit more each time, I'm not going to be any better than I was the day before. 

And I think seeing this man helped motivate me. For the first time on an outdoor run, with these freaking hills, I had my best time for 4 miles! It's slow compared to many of you, but for me, this felt like such an accomplishment!

Usually I barely make 4 miles under 50 minutes. So that 49:20 was very surprising to me...especially because I still have to walk some of the hills. Now that I have this running ap as close as it's going to get to being calibrated - I'm really liking the features of it! 

Anyways - I hope everyone is having a fabulous week! Hello to all my new readers, and Thank You for following my blog! If you didn't already know, you can also find me on My Fitness Pal, Instagram, and Twitter. Although I will admit - I really don't use Twitter much, except to advertise my Etsy Shop. 

Tonight M has her third day of volleyball tryouts. I think it's just for our district, because this isn't the typical time of year for volleyball. But it's also middle school, and they're on a blacktop - ghetto volleyball at it's finest. LOL. But she's having fun and learning a lot. I really hope she makes the team. It's 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. The coach is keeping 14 girls/boys [it's co-ed], and there are about 40 kids trying out. YIKES. Wish her luck!!

He LOVEd watching all of those volleyballs being thrown around - I think he thought they were for him. And the attention he got from all those girls once practice was over - thought the poor dog was going to have a heart attack! He was in heaven!