I'm a survivor. I'm not gon give up.

When you go to the gym regularly, there are some people you start to see over and over. Of course there are the muscle heads that don't leave the spot by the free weight right in front of the mirror for fear that their muscles will deflate if they stop looking at them. There are the really skinny girls on the elliptical machines, trying desperately to get back to their birth weight (what they weighed when they were born). There are the cross-trainers, who are all over the place as if they are on a workout scavenger hunt. And then there's the little old lady. She's there in the afternoons and walks on the track. Even for the walking lane she's slow. She's hunched over as she shuffles her feet. I believe she's carrying the first Sony Walkman ever sold. It looks like she can pass out from exhaustion at any minute.

At first, I feel really bad for her. But then I realize that I shouldn't feel bad for her at all. I should admire her. She's at the gym several times a week, surrounded by much younger people whizzing past her on the track. Yet, she's doing it her way. And she's exercising, which is much more than what more people do just by itself. I hope that when I get to be 80 and hunched over that I still have the spunk to be at the gym regularly, shuffling my feet along to the tunes on my discman.

Step 1: PAIN

A lot can happen in two weeks. In my case, "a lot" translates into muscle atrophy and a measurable decrease in physical ability.

After only two weeks of not being on the training schedule, I appear to have suffered a very noticeable setback. When I went to the gym today, I was hurting quite a bit. The 30 minute run that I would have easily done before was now a struggle. I stopped before I wanted to and moved on to doing stretches, crunches, etc.

I remember this point when I first started going to the gym at the beginning of the year, and I didn't like it then either. If things this time around work like the first time, the pain should subside after a couple more trips to the gym before the end of the weekend.

If you don't stumble...

You don't have a chance to get back up again.

That's one of those proverbs that motivational speakers and people desperate enough to listen to every word they say and think they can change their lives often quote.

I don't think I fall into either of these categories. But, I readily recognize that I have my share of opportunities to "get back up again". This coming Memorial Day, I will swim/bike/run my way to the finish line of the Galena Triathlon Sprint. This will be my very first attempt at a competitive sport like this. The goal for this event is two-fold. First, I want to get in better shape. Second, I want to finish the race without falling over or resorting to crawling.

To help me along, I will make a public commitment to sticking to a training schedule. My schedule will be posted online through Google Docs & Spreadsheets. I will update my training schedule here. I will also add a link to the right hand column where the spreadsheet can be accessed.

Where does the "get back up" come in, you ask? Well, as you can see from the training schedule, I have hit a huge hiccup with the last two weeks of training. This was a rough period of time, and only yesterday did I get back on the bandwagon. It's time to get back on the horse. To have a stiff upper lip. To belly up to the bar. To put my money where my mouth (blog) is. To live up to my potential.

One stride at a time.