My family is awesome.

My brother-in-law Eric (the one married to my sister, not the one who is JJ's brother) sent me this today:

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"Show up earlier, work harder than anyone else and stay later".

When I want to skip a workout, I remind myself that I always feel better after a workout than before a workout. Once you put your shoes on or get to the gym, the hard part is over. Here is what happens to me when running hills:

Breathing is labored, gait is inefficient, mind is full of useless thoughts left over from the stresses of the day, and I want to stop.
Keep going...
Breathing becomes synchronized with gait, mind starts listening to the breathing but still distracted, and I want to stop.
Keep going...
My mind tells me to stop or I will be sick...
Keep going...
Breathing is free, gait is effortless, and mind is empty. I want to feel like this forever.

It seems like if I make it past the third time that my mind tells me to quit, the reward is priceless.
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As a result of reading this email from Eric, I didn't let myself NOT go to the gym today. I was really getting down on my job by the end of the day, starting to hate it again, and had convinced myself that my new division doesn't respect me and that I need to quit. But I knew that if I went to the gym, I could work off all my aggression and bad feelings. I got home, put on my workout clothes, sat down for 3 seconds, then decided to just effing go.

I went to the gym, got on the treadmill, and ran an easy half-mile warmup at 10-min. mile pace.

Then I stretched, and a latin music dancing-style workout class was starting.

I got back on my horse. I mean my treadmill.

I just started going. Decided to rock the 6.5 mph ~9:15 min/mile pace again. I started my run going uphill at "4.0" whatever that means. Just for a quarter mile, then I went back to flat running.

And I just kept running. I thought about Eric's advice to just not stop. I ran a full 2.5 miles without stopping at all! I haven't done that in a REALLY REALLY long time. I can probably count on my hands the number of times in my life I've run 2.5 miles without stopping. The class kept me entertained, there were some really good dancers, and I am quite pleased with what I was able to do today.

It was awesome. I feel great now! Eric, you rock.