I just finished a morning run on the treadmill…for the past month in fact, I’ve been running at least 4-6 times per week. My treadmill time ranges from 20-50 minutes, varying between walking fast uphill, sprinting, using dumb bells for presses and curls and changing the incline. My goal is to keep my heart rate consistently within my target heart zone: 35-41 beats for every 15 second count, for at least 45 minutes each morning.

Today was extremely rewarding because usually I get very tired within the first 15 minutes of the session, and take small 20 second breaks to check my heart rate and drink water. However, while I was running today I felt energetic, light and at a mode where I could have probably ran a half marathon today.

A lot of my momentum came from my ‘practice’ and ‘training’ I had performed weeks beforehand. While I wanted to give credit to all that I had done that day: (waking up early, drinking water, being positive) - the truth is, is that the success didn’t come from today, it came from all the ‘yesterdays’, when I chose to get up and run regardless of the fatigue of doing so.

It is important to recognize that your mind is always moving a lot faster than your body - your decision to make a change in your health creates a ripple effect that will make big waves in the future. I have observed that all my goals I’ve written down my entire life have come true. By consciously writing what I wanted down, I started making small choices that helped me achieve it.

Every day I feel like I’m a farmer planting seeds and watching it grow - making sure I’ve given it enough sunlight to breathe, enough soil to feed and enough water to grow. We are all ‘farmers’ - for each day we are planting seeds for greater tomorrow’s ….and while each day seems similar to the last, it’s these conscious moments of realization in our small personal success where growth has occurred, that make this ordinary day …. Extraordinary. - originally written in my journal written on August 21, 2006