DWYSYWD

It may be hard to tell now, but I was once an altar boy.

And back in my days of wholesomeness, I remember seeing a sign in the sacristy that simply read DWYSYWD. This was in the dark ages, well before WWJD (and its subsequent, endless pop culture-referencing parodies) took over the Christian acronym market. I had no clue what it meant, but I'm a huge fan of palindromes, so I looked into it, and found out that it was quite simple.

Do what you say you will do.

It's a simple mantra, and one that evokes an image of great reliability. Clearly, their intention was to remind people to follow through on their promises, but the memory hit me today for a different reason. I finally managed to get back to my speed work, and for the first time in a while, I did exactly what I set out to do.

For the last three weeks, my speed work Thursdays have been inconsistent. Two of the three weeks have been merely fast runs over four miles. The first was with the pups, and last week was by myself. The other was a hill workout. All were legitimate choices for a strength-training day, but honestly, a bit part of it was avoiding quarter-mile repeats. They're hard. I'm tired. We've avoided one another.

But I decided to get back to it. I changed my framework to have a little less rest, and headed out. Instead of doing three sets of four, I chose two sets of six. At the end of my first set, I was burned. I took my rest, and moved toward the line to start the second set, but I hesitated. I hadn't done this kind of workout in a while, so was I asking too much of my body? Was I out of speed work shape? Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, and I should only do my one set.

DWYSYWD.

The sign that I haven't seen in years flashed through my brain. I said, to myself, that I would do two sets of six. So I did. And yes, the last few got progressively slower, but I completed them. Every one.

Setting challenges has been the key for me so far this year. When I tell myself I will do something, I hold myself to that standard. Tomorrow, I will wake up on time.

Because I said I would.

Thursday's Run:
73 Degrees, but it got cold right at the end.
2x(6x400, 1:30 Rest)
1:08     1:09
1:06     1:05
1:05     1:06
1:05     1:06
1:05     1:07
1:05     1:08