99 Days of a Training is a 99-part series that I will document my daily progress towards my first marathon. Each day I plan on recognizing a word or phrase that corresponds with that day’s training. This series will conclude on May 6th, 2012 when I toe the start line (or somewhere in the back of the pack) at the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati, OH.

Word of the day:  euphoria.

Some background…there is a little park at the edge of our subdivision.  On that park there is a roughly 0.3mi track.  When I first start running I had a “huge” goal of completing one lap around that track.  I remember trying and trying and never could do it.  This was pre-Couch-to-5K era.  At that time I would go out in the morning, make the 5 minute walk to the track, then run as far as I could, walk until I felt I could run again.  Usually I started at the same spot, mostly because there is a steep incline on the track and I was scared to death of the hill.

The day I finally conquered that lap was euphoric.  It was like I had just ran a 100-mile race… at that point in my life it meant as much as if I had.  After finishing my couch-to-5k program I quit running on that track.  I needed something where I could do 3 miles and not do 10 laps.  That is when I started tracing my subdivision.  My original loop was about 0.8mi.  In the recent months I added in another street that I had avoided because, surprise, it was a big hill.  Now my loop had evolved into about 1.1ish miles.

The recent memory of that euphoria was brought up because recently I decided to start adding the track into my loop.  Adding the path to the track and the track I was able to get my loop to right at 1.5mi.  It is a lot easier for me if I’m doing 6 miles to do 4 loops of something than 6.

Euphoria is something everyone needs to experience in their journey.  If not you are too caught up in trying to accomplish the literal impossible than enjoying your victories.  Did completing that 0.3mi lap really put me victorious in my journey?  No.  It was certainly a big stepping-stone and was celebrated as much, but I knew the battle wasn’t over.

Another euphoric moment is about to come.  It could be a few days or a few weeks, but I’m getting very close to accomplishing my next ‘MAJOR’ goal with weight-loss.  A major enough goal that I may celebrate with a big soft drink and candy bar.  To put that in perspective I haven’t had a Pepsi or Mt. Dew in 19 months.  Once upon a time (high school) I drank a 2-liter of Mt. Dew a day.  Going 19 months without has been liberating, but at the same time drinking only water is monotonous.  We’ll see if I follow through with that celebration, but I’m hoping that day comes sooner, rather than later.