Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Money in the Bank

3.0 mi. in 38:38 with up to 1.5% incline.
Temp: warm enough to run outside but I messed up my schedule and ended up on the treadmill.
Time of day: 4 p.m.

After telling a friend how low-energy I was feeling yesterday and how I thought I would just swap rest days and run on Wednesday, he asked me if I had ever heard of the $100 deposit philosophy. "Nope", I replied. Here it is. Exercise is like depositing money in a savings account. Some days are $100 deposits, some days are $10 deposits. But the idea is to deposit something every day. Regular small money deposits eventually create a sizeable nest egg. Likewise, small exercise efforts add up in many ways: increased endurance and strength, continued calorie burn, better disposition, more toned body, and much more. For me, it is the mental discipline of exercising daily.

Both Jeni and this friend have told me the biggest obstacle to my running is in my head. I believe them. Today my friend suggested that if I didn't feel like running to go out and walk. Even if it was only for 15 or 20 minutes. It might only be a $10 deposit day, but it would be a deposit. By the time I got to the gym later in the day I figured why not run? As long as I had made the effort to get to the gym, why not just go ahead and make a bigger "deposit"? So I challenged myself on the treadmill, running at up to 4.8 mph for .1 mi at a time, totalling .5 mi. And I added some incline, up to 1.5%. The changes were not big, but still a challenge. So instead of just putting in 40 minutes of boring running on the treadmill, I mixed it up a little and ended up feeling so much better physically and mentally.

Isn't it great to have friends?

No comments:

Post a Comment