Sometimes it can be difficult to stick with a training plan and believe that you will see the steady improvement each week.

When you follow your plan as closely as possible you don’t always notice the subtle increases in total minutes running or mileage added. That’s the point of the plans. You build up gradually and that ta-dah you have achieved your goal.

In all of the plans I have used from Hal Higdon, Coach Jenny, and numerous others they all require you to take that leap of faith. Suddenly there is that week where you need to run 10 miles on Wednesday or instead of increasing our run minutes by one minute each week they suddenly increase by two. But if you have been following your plan you begin to realize that you can accomplish this new distance.

Just a little snippet of what consistency looks like. (c) Stacey Cooper

Since I got back from DC I have been focusing on sticking to my training plan and thankfully I can say that I have been able to that. A new gym (Hi, Blink!) where I feel welcome has helped me show up even on the hard it’s too cold to do anything days.

I’ve been following the plan and starting to feel like a runner again. But this past week was one that had me concerned. It was one of those jump weeks. I’ve been following a run/walk plan to force myself to slowly build up without getting injured again. Every week we have been increasing our run minutes by one minute each week. This week it was two.

I was bracing myself for it and tried to be as mentally prepared as possible. If I accomplished this increase it would be a huge confident boost. If not, well, it would have been a blow.

To cut to the chase and not build up suspense — I did it! Seriously, I should have trusted Coach Jenny and this plan.

When one of my buddies joined me at the gym on Friday evening I decided to run a couple of extra intervals and I did it. While we were running, I had mentioned that I was finally feeling like everything was connecting and coming in line with my running.

I put my faith into this plan and I feel so confident and excited to go running again. It has been so long since I have felt like that!