concerning green lake and accomplishments

Last Monday I got to stroll Green Lake in Seattle with a friend. It was lovely.

Via Seattle Parks and Recreation

I'm a dork and didn't even so much as take out my phone and get a picture. I need to get a better blogger brain!

It was a beautiful day; a tiny bit of sun, but overcast so it wasn't too hot. Pretty much perfect for a walk in my opinion. The loop around Green Lake is about 2.8 miles, all paved. There are so many people there! It's a fun place to people watch. People are walking their dogs, with friends, with babies, rollerblading, biking, jogging... I even saw a guy walking with what looked to be 25 pound weights in each hand. (his arms were HUGE)

I've been to Green Lake one other time with some other friends, a few years ago. I remember we got about a third of the way around and I had to ask them to turn around instead of finishing the loop. I blamed my flip-flops, (they were pretty uncomfortable) but the main reason was that I was hot, sweaty, and just plain wore out. I remember feeling so defeated because both of my friends at the time would have had no problem whatsoever finishing the loop, even on a hot day. I was so out of shape.

The other day I was talking to my brother and telling him that one of my goals was to be able to hike with my honey and keep up this summer. Last summer we didn't hike at all because I didn't even want to try. Before we were married we hiked a few times and my short legs (compared to his very long ones) and extra pounds meant I was seriously lagging behind. I love the outdoors, but dreaded every time he would suggest going somewhere because it might mean a trail, and me trying to keep up. I started making excuses or coming up with other things to do just so I could avoid the situation. That panic that would hit me when my husband suggested outings is the same panic I used to get when I would get together with certain friends, because they were so in shape and athletic, I knew even if our meet-up wasn't activity oriented, that it would probably still involve a good amount of walking. (to and from restaurant, around the city, so on and so forth...)  So one of the things I mentioned to my bro was that I don't want to have to have that hesitation when people ask me to do things, just because I'm worried about my physical inabilities. How many things have I missed out on because of my limitations?

Well, as luck would have it, I was planning on getting together with my friend and she suggested going to Green Lake. I remember my first thought after she asked was "how do I get out of this?!" because my mind was so used to trying to avoid these types of situations and the embarrassment/defeat they might bring.  I looked away and then looked back at her and thought, no- I'm doing it. I have been working out, eating better... I'm 22.4 pounds down for goodness sake! That's got to count for something, right? I can do this.

We had such an amazing day! Of course the company was awesome and the walk felt sooo good. (anything feels better than running, right? this couch to 5k is going to kill me.) I felt so accomplished when we got in the car that I had conquered the defeat that had been haunting me for years. It wasn't walking the 2.8 miles, it was more the fact that I was actually excited for the walk and finished it without that 'i'm-dying-when-will-this-be-over-can-someone-get-me-some-water-and-a-ride-back-to-the-car-please' kind of feeling. It felt... invigorating, if that's not too cliche of a word to use.

I'm loving these little, tiny, unexpected victories. Do you have any tiny or unexpected victories that keep you going?