Time to start focusing on the long term

So I keep making goals & meeting/exceeding them.  On July 1st, I ran a sub-8:00 mile.  This morning, I went to the track to see about breaking my 26 year old record.  Back in high school, we were required to run a mile.  For some reason, I feel like we did it two times one year.  The first time I did it, I think I walked the entire time & didn't give a shit.  I know it was slow & when the time came again to run it, I ended up doing it in 7:40.  This year, I got it in my head that I wanted to beat that time. Yesterday, my coach & I decided it was time to break that record. I did a double yesterday - tough cycle class in the morning & swam 2000m after work. I was interested to see how my legs would feel in the morning. So when the alarm went off at o'dark thirty this morning, I was surprised when the news people were telling me it was 57 outside.  What the hell was going on?  It is July 29th in Virginia - where did this temperature come from? I wasn't complaining - pleasant change from our normal heat & humidity.  I got to the track before the sun came up & was a little worried that I would not beat my time. I was doing the workout on my own & thought that might make me not push myself as hard.  Only one other person knew I was doing the workout, so if I quit, I could just say I was sick or something, right?  I told myself to STFU & get out of the car.  There was no quitting or playing injured.  This was MY goal that I was trying to reach.  It didn't belong to anyone else. It isn't going to win me any awards.  It is just something I said I wanted to do and the only person I would be letting down was myself.  I am my harshest critic & will dissect every last part of my performance to see where I went wrong.  One of my character flaws is to only see the negative in what I do. I am working on changing this, but old habits are hard to break. I try to embrace my successes (I am getting better!), but I still seem to look for what I did wrong.  Back to running around in circles...  I did a good warm-up & there were a few people at the track - two people running stairs & one guy running on the track.  Before I knew it, I had no more time for excuses because my warm-up was done & it was time.  I hit lap & started going. I went out a little too fast & was able to reign myself back in.  After the first lap, I told myself take it 100M at a time. I was cheering myself on in my mind - telling myself to suck it up & focusing on my form. Hearing my coach telling me to drop my elbows & to lengthen my stride (see I really do listen!).  The final lap was tough, but I did it. I could barely breathe when I was done & I am sure the two young guys probably thought I was going to need an ambulance. After a few minutes, I was back running half mile repeats to finish the workout. Turns out I ran my fastest mile ever this morning. It wasn't as fast as I thought it would be, but I now I have a new goal to run one even faster.  But before I worry about that, I need to get serious about dropping some weight.  I am 40 pounds heavier than I was in high school.  Granted, I have lost 40 pounds in the last 2 years.  I still have a bunch to lose (hopefully 35 or so).  I need to focus on what I am putting into my body.  All of the work I am doing is nothing if I keep feeding it crap. I have been making small changes this year - gave up coffee & soda (for the most part - went from drinking it every day to having one every 4-5 weeks).  I turn 42 in 22 days, so the time is now to start losing.  I have a goal in mind for how much I want to lose before my birthday & I hope I can report back that I passed that goal number!