The other women at Saturday’s training run quickly left me in the dust as we headed north on this week’s trail.  My short legs didn’t help my pace at all, but I had to keep reminding myself to take it slow to avoid injury.    

Doubt soon set in that I wasn’t going to reach my personal goal of jogging the entire distance, especially when my running partner from last week invited me to join her again.  When her “walk beep” sounded on her GPS, I politely told her I was trying to run the entire distance.  About halfway through the run, though, when I heard her footsteps catching up to me during her running interval, I again derided myself for being so slow!

Negative thoughts filled my head without an iPod to distract it, but I had to keep repeating positive mantras:  “You can do it!”  “You’re doing great!”  “Don’t stop now!”  I think a big key to successfully completing any goal is the kind of stuff you choose to listen to.  I kept feeding myself the good stuff.  “Slow and steady wins the race, slow and steady …”

There was a hare … I mean … another jogger who was going at a steady pace but eventually had to walk some portions.  It was kind of comical the way we kept passing each other.  But like the Little Engine That Could, I kept chugging along slowly, determined not to walk or stop.

As I headed south along the trail and saw the bridge where we started, I became ecstatic!  I was going to make it after all!  I decided to give the last leg a good sprint, choosing a trash can as my launch point, only to discover it was the wrong bridge!  Deflated, I laughed with embarrassment and slowed my pace back down to a jog.  At least I left three joggers behind, the hare included, so that I wouldn’t be last.  As long as I maintained my pace and they didn’t sprint either, that is!

About 5 minutes later, the right bridge finally appeared in the distance.  The jogging became easier, and with the end in sight, I knew I was going to make it!  As I crossed the finish line, I felt like Aesop’s Tortoise through and through!  Slow and steady really does win the race, and today’s accomplishment proved it!