Thursday, January 28, 2010

.75 mi. in 10:03 min. Warm up for strength training.
Time of day: 7 a.m.

This has been a challenging week for me. I have struggled with motivation to work out all week. I'm not sure what's going on but here are some thoughts about my state of mind.

The week started out with the realization that I had an overnight business trip scheduled for Friday/Saturday. What to do about my running schedule? I considered rearranging the workouts so Saturday would be a rest day, or maybe a short run, or ?? Talking it over with Trainer Jeni helped me realize that I really didn't need to change a thing. All settled, right? I thought so. But now I wonder if that thinking set me up for the rest of the week.

Tuesday was a really low-energy day. I realize some days I'm not going to go out and give a 110% every minute I'm working out. But Tuesday was the kind of day where I easily talked myself out of running. My excuses ran the gamut from "I'm stiff and sore" to "My schedule is screwy today" to "I'll call this my rest day and workout Wednesday". I was not in a good spot. Thank goodness for my friend, Ron, who told me about the $100 deposit philosophy and by doing so got me to the gym to run.

So Wednesday comes along; regular rest day and yoga. Well, no. I skipped yoga because I wanted to hear the State of the Union address last night. I think that would be a reasonable excuse to skip yoga--a year from now. I need to build a solid base of consistent workouts, including yoga, before I begin "skipping" workouts. So the speech wasn't even over before I was kicking myself in the pants for missing the yoga session.

Then this morning dawns and, darn it, I was still really not motivated to go work out. I slept an extra half hour and still wanted to just sit at the table, drink coffee and read the paper. I finally drug myself out the door and to the gym. Was it a good workout? Yes and no. Yes, because I did go. No, because it was a $10 deposit day. I really, really, really, wanted to just stay home and not get sweaty from working out.

So I have no clue what's going on in my head. But I think there are some lessons to be learned from this week. Disclaimer: These lessons apply to me & me only and may change sometime in the future.
  • My workout schedule is set in stone. There is no reason to even consider changing it, or switching days or whatever, except in the case of extreme weather or illness. There is no place I would travel to that I couldn't workout as listed on my training schedule.
  • Don't sit around "deciding" what time I'm going to workout today. Every Friday afternoon take a look at next week's schedule and write on the calendar the time for each day's workout! Ninety-nine percent of the time it is going to be first thing in the morning. Occasionally a workout will need to be scheduled later in the day. That's o.k., but put it on the calendar!
  • There is nothing on TV that is so important it can't be missed. The State of the Union address? I'm sure I could find it somewhere on the internet today. And even if I didn't, does it really matter? Did my life change for the better because I sat there and watched it? I don't think so. I would have felt much better if I'd attended the yoga session.
  • Every workout doesn't have to be 110%. It doesn't have to set new records or be the "best" workout of my life. But I do need to workout every day. At this point my exercise base isn't strong enough to withstand even an occasional absence. For me right now, "something" every day is better than "fabulous" once or twice a week.
So now that I've slapped myself around a bit have I found any good nuggets in this lackluster week? Well, yes. I have a goal. A goal of running a half marathon in April. And I firmly believe that goal was the underlying reason I worked out Tuesday and today. I was able to acknowledge that if I'm going to run that race in April, I truly cannot afford to miss any workouts. I believe that having a goal, that goal, is what got me moving this week.

It's been an interesting week. It's not over yet. The weather forecast is for ice and snow Friday and Saturday. The possibility of running outside is slim, but will I even make it to the gym? I don't know. If I can, I definitely will. If I can't, I will dust off some old workout DVDs and use those as my workout. Because I realize I need to workout every day!

1 comment:

  1. WOW...you had a lot going on mentally this week! It's good to get those things thought/worked out. Your training program is just as much about training your mind(set) as it is about training your body.

    Workout fatigue is not that uncommon. You've been working out hard since November, so to become dispondant about working out is totally normal. Usually I'd counsel you to mix up your workout or running routes, but you've stated in the things you've learned that you like the patter/ritual/routine and need the regularity. Perhaps a new playlist would be a slight change that would help. Definitely remembering your ultimate goal, finishing the half marathon in April is important and a motivator. Remember your upcoming race too, and use that short term as motivation to do your workouts and do them to the best of your ability. There is a fairly common running quote that is said frequently, "Your rarely regret the runs you take but usually always regret the ones you skip."

    Turn your mind off and let your body do it's thing because your body is doing a great job! Keep up the good work!

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