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Dr. Terrie Wurzbacher

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What I Learned in Just 7 Days, Part 3 – Momentum

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 As I started my attempt at running a second marathon in 7 days yesterday, I wondered what the next 7-8 hours would bring. My first steps let me know it wasn’t going to be a great day at all  – my shins were burning making me stop frequently (just like the old days). They eventually loosened up so I kept plodding along. I wondered how I could feel so cruddy after only 4 days off and why it was taking me so much energy to just think I could even finish the half-marathon to say nothing of actually doing the full marathon. I was amazed at the downward spiral my mind was taking. I was filled again with self-doubt and self-judgment/criticism – the bane of our existence. It was as if that special week in time was a figment of my imagination, a dream, even a fantasy…..How could I possibly have done 7 days in a row and done a full marathon after 5 halfs and now with this 4 days off I can’t seem to do anything? What was going on?

But then I realized it was about momentum!

I was able to do the other events because I had the momentum and just “kept going”. As I was running (a combination actually of running/walking yesterday) I drew the parallel between this sequence of events with my realization and life and pursuit of any dream/goal. It’s interesting how we can continue moving forth once we get started and even the uphills don’t seem so bad because we are already moving. But if we stop for a bit and then try to get started again, going uphill in life consumes a phenomenal amount of energy and it seems so much easier to just turn around and go backwards down the hill or just stay where you are, never venturing further up the hill. I remember the one thing I never wanted to do was get off my bike on  a hill because for me it was virtually impossible to produce the amount of energy it took to just get started when you’re already on the hill. To keep on going no matter how slow while the wheels are spinning takes energy for sure but not as much as starting from scratch.

Maybe this is why so many people have trouble when they are “dieting” (it applies to the pursuit of any goal however). You do really well and then for some reason, something happens and you aren’t as “perfect” as you think you should be. At this point, it’s like stopping on a hill (the way most people look at diets or weight loss) and it’s probably a hill you didn’t want to be on to begin with anyway. Starting up the hill again (resuming your rigid control of your food intake) takes so much energy and seems like an insurmountable obstacle. Rather like me yesterday thinking “how on earth did I do all that last week – or did I really do it? How am I going to be able to run even 13 miles today?”. Looking at the accomplishment – the final result – was the insurmountable obstacle. I had to readjust my vision and focus (remember we talked about that in part 3) to concentrate only on the next step, the next mile, the next lap etc. That was the only way I was going to regain any momentum because the 4 days that my life returned to ‘normal’ had disrupted that amazing momentum that I’d had and relished in.

So what did I learn from that? You have to keep the momentum going no matter what it takes. The danger zone lies in stopping. We can’t ever stop moving – preferably moving forward in some way, shape or form, but at least moving in some manner. When you work toward your dreams, your goals, those things you want to pursue, examine your feelings and use your feelings to generate the passion that will produce the momentum for you. Take small steps, look only at the small chunks (my new favorite phrase is “chunk it down”) for they seem much less insurmountable than the big picture. Just keep going in some way shape or form.

And even more importantly you just HAVE to have a support team and a coach. Even if the “coach” is not an official coach, create one. Find someone you can work with or even just look up to. I keep reiterating that without Parvaneh (the most wonderful race director in the world) I would not have even thought I could accomplish any of this. And yesterday was no exception, she and the other folks continuously cheered me on.

In case you’re wondering, I did complete the full marathon and I’m pretty darn proud of it. The last 4-6 miles were very tough for me but then Parvaneh, Angela and Dagmar dragged me with them for the last mile and I made it.

Just keep moving forward!

Terrie

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What I Learned in Just 7 Days, Part 2 – Focus

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 Yes, even after going back to work yesterday and not getting much sleep for the last 2 nights, I’m still riding high in a euphoric dream of what I accomplished and how my life changed i just 7 days.

My vision became so much clearer and I became focused on what I want and trying to live by the mantra – “Do what you love and Love what you do.” I found myself loving EVERY single minute of the past week, no matter what was happening and you can’t ask for anything better than that.  I am so grateful I had this experience on so many different planes. I certainly became much more clear about what my primary dream/desire/goal is for 2013. And I’ll probably be sharing this dream and the process I go through in achieving it with my Define & Conquer 2013 group that starts on the 8th.

Kay (my EFT practitioner) and I talked last night and she said that I would now be more likely to focus on what I want to achieve in 2013. As I thought about it, I said that I was focused already because my goal had to do with two things primarily (one of which is – yep, you guessed it – running) but as I sit here and write, I realize that I have not really been focused on these two things. Focus is an intense direction of energy – this is not a dictionary definition and for once I’m not even going to go look it up, I’m simply going to use what I define as focus here. So I’m asking myself “when have I been focused before” because we always operate best from a frame of reference.

The answer(s):

– When I decided I wanted to be a doctor. From the age of 4 until I graduated from medical school I was focused completely on that one goal. Although that was a long time ago,  I still remember what it felt like through all those years.

– In 2010-2012 while working with a team to create this software application that we use at work now. I was almost singularly focused on that for several months at a time – NOTHING else got in the way. That’s all I thought about and all I did.

– Training for the 2012 New York City Marathon. Especially from June through October 2012. All my efforts and actions were directed toward that goal.

Yes we do other things while focused but always with that primary goal in mind – we ask ourselves things like “how will doing x, y, z affect, impact or interfere with my training (to use that example)”. Any further action or effort put into x, y, z is all dependent on the answer to this question. Even if x, y, or z is completely unrelated to running (or to creating the computer application for instance), doing it or putting time and energy into x, y or z impacts my primary goal in some way. Often it’s not a significant impact nor is there any or much interference. So, it’s almost a ‘no-brainer’ but achievement of my primary goal is always factored into any decision I make.

How much you focus on your goal can tell you alot about that goal – and especially if it really is YOURS – that is,  in my opinion, the number one factor in whether or not you succeed at achieving a goal or dream – is it really YOUR dream. I remember (believe it or not) when I was 4 years old and all of a sudden (literally) I decided I was going to be a doctor. From that moment on I told anyone who asked what I wanted to be – “a doctor” – well, back in that day girls didn’t become doctors, they became nurses. So I would emphatically correct those well meaning folks who tried to inform me as to what I really meant – “oh, you mean you want to be a nurse”.  This shy, chubby little red-head would stand there and defiantly state – “NO, I’m going to be  doctor!”. This was truly my goal. No one else was going to change that no matter how hard they tried. And I stuck to it and stuck to it – I was rejected at medical school for two or three years before I got in – thank God! (Believe me, my life is a perfect picture of how everything happens a) for a reason and b) when it’s supposed to but I don’t want to digress any further). No one and nothing was going to deter me. That is true focus.

As I said above, there really have only been a few of these true desires that have been the object of my intense focus.

Just as with the overall goal selection process, however, focus applies to multiple stages in the process. My overall dream/goal was to become a doctor. But I didn’t just decide that when I was 4 and then at 4 1/2 became one. No, I had to continually achieve “sub-goals” or mini-goals along the way – graduating from elementary school, high school, get into college, take the required courses, apply and then get into medical school, etc etc…

I didn’t decide last fall that I was going to run in the New York City Marathon and then the next day go do it. I couldn’t even run a quarter of a mile at that point. But my focus became running a short distance without stopping, then another distance, etc etc…I set a plan for developing my abilities – that’s so important because otherwise you get discouraged. If I had decided I was going to be able to run a marathon one day and then the next day tried it and failed, where would that have led me?

Same with this smaller progression of events last week. I didn’t even think about doing the marathon on day 1 or day 2 of the half-marathons. But the thought started to creep into my head on day 3 (in fact, I hadn’t even planned on doing the 7 half-marathons in a row). As it kept popping into my brain, I refocused and re-evaluated my level of skill (endurance) at that time. Each day I thought about my inner workings (will, endurance, motivation, desire etc) and my external environment (environment is so important and we have to optimize that) which I was learning about – new people, new situation, new expectations etc…as I processed these inner and outer workings I came to believe I could do another day. As I kept on moving one foot in front of the other I maintained focus. As I finished one day my focus shifted to recovering that day and then returning the next “if I could”.

Side note: It’s funny but it’s taken me several days to complete this post and I even lost part of it in the middle for technological reasons (or else I didn’t hit the right button…LOL…”technological reasons” sounds so much better). So I’m hoping you all have gotten the point about the importance of focus and I’m going to end this part now and continue with another section.

Terrie

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What I Learned in Just 7 Days, Part 1 – ….Amazing Shift in Power and Perspective

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 It’s kind of funny. I was just preparing some material for Define & Conquer 2013 and was looking back at last week’s posts. In the morning post from the 26th I sounded rather blah about doing a second 1/2 marathon that day. Little did I know what was going to happen. I had no idea how much my life and psyche was going to change in just 7 days.

Instead of just doing two back to back half-marathons, I ended up doing 6 1/2 marathons and 1 FULL marathon (26.2 miles) in 7 days. I had NOT planned on doing that at all. I was going to “try” to run 3 half-marathons in a row over the weekend. Although I had thought about doing all 7 half-marathons, that had been thwarted by my having to go back to work on Thursday and Friday. But then I got brave and asked my boss for those two additional days off – not so I could run but for other reasons. And I was blessed because he said “yes”.

Now that I had the opportunity to run all 7, did I have the courage and the capability?

I wasn’t sure. And I definitely wasn’t going to commit to anyone that I was going to try. That might mean failure if I couldn’t. And no one wants to risk failure if they can help it. But I don’t know that it was that I didn’t want to risk failure. More that I didn’t want to be embarrassed if I failed (in my mind it would have been a failure – not in other people’s – see how our limiting beliefs get in the way).

But you know what? I did the second and then I committed to showing up to try the 3rd. Doing the second one was uncharted territory for me and doing 3 in a row certainly was. But by then I was really up for a challenge and willing to put myself out there.

Why?

Because of the love and support I felt from these people I had simply interacted with once before – over Thanksgiving weekend. They embraced my attempt and realized that it was something new for me and beyond what I had done before. It was ‘nothing’ for them because they were all doing 12 FULL marathons in a row so doing another half marathon really was no big deal for them. But you would never have known it. You would have thought I was running for president and they were all my supporters. It was such a shift of energy – a feeling of acceptance and support I had never felt before from runners. Since I’m so slow and most runners are all about time and being fast, they don’t usually want anything to do with a slowpoke – and an old one to boot.

I know that I would not even have attempted this had it not been for all their energy. I was thinking about that last night especially as I still sat in awe of what I actually went out and did. Would I have done 6 runs in a row of 13.1 miles each and one of 26.2 miles – all in 7 days without them? NO! I can almost guarantee it. I fed off their energy pure and simple. You could feel it surround everyone, not just me. This group of people (and especially the race director) are very special folks filled with so much love and dedication.

Each step was preceded by my new mantra – forward motion. That’s all it was – relentless forward motion. I had to just continue moving forward. That’s what we all must do in life – every day, every minute, we have to continue to move forward. Do not ever forget that.

There were many obstacles during this 7 days for sure. I will talk about them more later. Again, if left to my own devices I would not have completed these events. Yet with the encouragement and witnessing of what each of them was working toward and overcoming I was able to overcome my own monsters (obstacles).

Here’s some words  and phrases that describe the concepts I experienced in 7 days – and I’ll talk more about these in future parts: Perspective, Perception, Persistence,  Overcoming Obstacles, Judgment, Perseverance, Passion, Pursuit, Love, Friendship, Camaraderie, Chunking Down, Acceptance, Mind over Body, Mind with Body, Pushing Pain, Loving What you Do, Doing What You Love, Teamwork, Balance, Rest,  Achievement, and so much more

There’s much to be learned about life in this short time frame. I can tell you that my power and my perspective has definitely changed.

Til later – sign up for Define & Conquer 2013 NOW.