The FUN of Accountability

I'm a fan of accountability. It makes me do things, go places, and talk to people I otherwise wouldn't. It keeps on task, and causes me to dig deep and go for broke, when alone I might have given up. Sure, I believe in self discipline and self control, but there is POWER in inviting someone else into your journey.

Case in point: this very morning. On Feb. 1st I am running a half marathon with many of my family members. Two of those family members are my own daughters, ages 12 and 14. It will be their first, and my fourth 1/2. My 12 year old daughters best friend (who is also running the half with us) invited my girls to run with her this morning at 6:45am. (Today is a BLESSED Saturday - meaning - my day to sleep in) My 12 year old passed, but my 14 year old (Holli) eagerly said yes! And they invited me to join them. They mapped out their run to include 6 miles through town on MAPMYRUN.com and set their alarms.

I set out my clothes the night before so as not to disturb KC as I rummaged through my dresser so early on his only day to sleep in, and set my alarm. I made sure my iPOD was charged and made sure I carb loaded a bit. (good carbs - sushi! :))

6:30 am my alarm went off in the dark. I didnt hear it AT ALL, but I did feel KC's hand sleepily tapping me on the back, which brought me "to" enough to roll over enough to shut that blasted monster off. :) But just waking up enough to turn it off, woke me up enough to think, "what is today? why is KC still here? Oh....its Saturday. Hm....no way am I getting up out of my warm electric blanket to go out into the 40-something degree weather to RUN. But I wonder if Holli is up..." I dragged my sorry self out of bed, tiptoed to her room and there she was, dressed to run and fiddling with her iPOD.

"Are you going, Mom? Cuz you look like you're in a daze." "I'm not...I'm going back to bed. Be quiet not to wake up the boys. Is Chloe up?" "Yeah...we've been texting. She'll be here soon."

I climbed back in bed. I thought, "How will I feel at 10am when I still have my run hanging over my head? Realistically will I do it? Wouldnt it feel so much better to go with the girls than go alone later?" Here my daughter got up on HER one day to sleep in to run. THATS ADMIRABLE DISCIPLINE. But its also because she had an accountability buddy. I rolled over and snuggled down deep into the warm blankets. But the visual of me running with the girls ran through my head. (no pun intended ;))

Long story short, I got out of bed, found her in the kitchen stretching, and said "I'm going too - can you wait for me?" "Yeah!!!!" :) I threw in my contacts, my running duds, a stocking hat to cover my bed head, and got my iPOD all set. I was feeling better already, and wide awake. We hit the road in the COLD morning air, and just 2 miles in did I see another mom from town, another Team Genesis coach, out on her own run! :) We smiled as we passed, both of us not bothering to quiet our music and I gave her an "air high five" and hollered "WOOOHOOO!". :) I felt a part of something bigger than just me - knowing that other moms around town were making the same choice to run that day! :)

The girls and I ran, we laughed a bit, and then got into "THE ZONE". If you're a runner, you know THE ZONE. :) When your mind checks out, and your body just finds its groove.....you feel exhilerated, alive, strong, and free - thankful for the legs under you that are taking you out into the early part of the day that many people never see. :) When we got to the most steep hill in town, which WASNT on our route, I asked "Do you want to add to our route and tackle the hill?" They looked at it, then at each other, then at me as they ran towards it. "Okkaaaay", they said hesitantly. I have em a thumbs up, and we took it on. We ran the whole way, even when that hill made us feel like we were nearly running straight up, lungs about to bust, quads and hammies screaming. :) In the end, we ran 7.2 miles with the added hill.

And I almost missed it. I didnt, solely because my little accountability buddies helped me convince myself to SHOW UP. And once running, when we hit that hill, where one or all three of us may have passed on it, or even walked when it got really uncomfortable, we all pushed one another, just by our very presence; to give our all and not just do what we planned, but a little extra. We laid all of our effort onto that pavement; TOGETHER.

As soon as we stepped foot on the base of the driveway, the endorphins kicked in. :) I was flying with that cheerfulness that only comes after hard work. :) Cheerfulness that would have NEVER come had I stayed in bed. That would have brought on regret that I didnt force myself to get up and do it.

THAT'S the fun of accountability. THAT'S why Beachbody decided to connect its customers to other customers called coaches. Cuz we do things for others that we might not do just for ourselves.

Do yourself a favor: set yourself up to succeed. Get some accountability. Log into WOWY and pick a buddy. Contact your coach; ME. :) Cuz alone we can do good things, but TOGETHER....we're so much BETTER!!!

Be blessed!

~TRACI :)