Happy Monday!

Well, aside from a few people who joined in the last week, you’re two weeks into your training! If you’re new to it, congrats. It’s little daily bits that add up to being able to do more and more. If you’re used to training, hopefully the structure of the workouts is adding something new to what you have been doing, and you notice some changes, however small they might be. One of my favorite books of late is Atomic Habits, by James Clear. If you haven’t read it, check it out (he’s also on several podcasts if you want the gist of it, and you can listen while you train!). It’s about habits, yes, but what I found really fascinating is how he frames them. We all have habits whether we think we do or not, they just might not but we want them to be. He provides ways to think about shifting behavior, and the major takeaway for me was that the habit itself is the important thing, not what the habit is. Make a habit of getting out the door in your running shoes for 10 min, and before you know it, you can extend it to 45 min.

An athlete this week was telling me that he doesn’t want to bother to get out if he can’t do an hour, but then he’ll not do anything, and the next day it might also be hard to get out for an hour, and before he knows it several days have passed. In addition, the inertia (mental almost more than physical) to get back into the swing of things becomes high. It’s that cycle that can also lead to overdoing it one day because you’re not sure when you’ll do it again, or to “make up” for missed workouts, and potentially injuring yourself. An alternate scenario, though, is that you have a twenty minutes break so you go for a little run. You feel great, and the next day you eek out a little more time. Like building a wall, adding one brick at a time gets the job done and while it might not seem impressive, over time you’ll realize how much work you’ve done at a low bar of entry. With aerobic work in particular, frequency and duration are important. A little bit most days is better than a long day with nothing for several after.

A couple notes about scheduling. If something happens and you do miss a workout, just pick up the next day with what was scheduled. Don’t stress out about missing one day; as stated above, it’s consistency over time that builds fitness, not one magic workout. If you lose motivation for a while and miss several days (or something out of your control like kids being sick, a hectic work life, travel, illness), start back with what’s scheduled, but dial it back just slightly so you can stay consistent from then on. If you fall off the wagon or into a random tree well and aren’t sure what the heck happened, have a laugh with your friend, and get back on track. It happens to everyone. Remember, we’re playing the long game and those setbacks are just part of it. Life would be pretty boring if we were all machines in total control of everything.

Ok, I think that’s all for now. Hopefully you had a cup of coffee to sip while reading my novel. Have a great week!