"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."
-Thomas Edison
Running a 5k is a goal I could have met much more easily 4-5 years ago. I was going to school at a campus where everything was in walking distance and worked at a gym. Between treadmill and track jog-runs I could log six to ten miles a week. I biked at least 2 miles daily and made many more on nights I didn't have anything to do. After parties I would sprint home in heels ahead of the rest of my group. If it was a bad night, I'd make a solo trek to North Campus on the phone, wander around, then walk back making "penitential prostrations" every 25 steps back (AKA 5 pushups in whatever I was wearing, for whatever decision of the night I wasn't happy with). In short, I was more physically fit than ever, despite still hitting the "obese" mark on BMI charts.
Fast forward to today. I've been living in a rural spot for the past 4 years, with nearby dirt roads, but not taking advantage regularly. I've had time after work (in temporary desk jobs, in retail, and most recently substitute teaching) and time between jobs (like right now) to get a program going. As recent as 2 years ago I was still capable of running 3 miles in a row, no stopping. This weekend I discovered I can run about a tenth of a mile, or ~1 minute worth of running, without needing to switch back.
Having time and opportunity isn't enough. Desire and motivation isn't enough (as evidenced by this Sunday "daily" post occurring on Monday, hmm?!). I got excited about Warrior Dash coming to Michigan when I first heard about it, way back in December. Plenty of time to do something about it. At the end of July two days of the Dash will occur I will not be in attendance. What will be different this time?
Fear of failure (and humiliation) is a better driver of accountability than anticipation of success. Making my goals known here is a part of that effort.
Another key to success is to be consistent. For this, automation is key. Ramit Sethi covers this concept thoroughly in this post: The Psychology of Passive Barriers: Why Your Friends Don’t Save Money, Eat Healthier, or Clean Their Garages.
Back to the ego. That's where my "secret weapon" comes in: Nike+. Basically, these are better-than-pedometer trackers for walking and running. Most of the products rely on being paired with a sensor that fits perfectly into the sole of a shoe Nike sells. You do not need a Nike shoe, just a pouch to put it in (I bought mine here).
There is a website to go with all of this. On their site, you can make goals, follow training programs, and share your runs via Twitter or Facebook (as long as you are willing to make your complete Nike+ profile accessible). One of the running programs offered is beginning running (12 weeks). I've done a few runs & walks this week, totaling 6 miles, so I feel "warmed up" to begin the beginner's program.
You can probably guess what's next.
Starting Monday I will follow the Nike training program for beginners and share my results to Facebook. If this sounds like a platform to boost an ego & not be humiliated, read on. The first week's program describes "run a minute and then walk five", repeated five times, for about half the workouts. There's no way I want to post a single set of slowpoke metrics (with links to my full-glory distance/time graphs) to Facebook and then disappear, never to be seen again. The following weeks have longer runs, so I have opportunity to post both faster and longer runs.
Sucking in the beginning is okay! Here we go!
 |
| 2007. Face puffied by location: Old Town Tavern. |
 |
| 2010. Completely sober, despite what the getup tells you! |
What do you do to stay consistent? Any suggestions for me?
First, man, you're a good writer. When I do blog entries there never anything like this. :x
ReplyDeleteAnd, wooooot! Congrats!
Um, to stay consistent...Well, for me, when I do stuff, it's usually for the sake of proving I can do whatever it is, with no expectations. I never actually had any running goals when I started and I'm still at it. Basically, I just stuck with it to see whether I could do it. Every day I was curious, is today the day I can run without stopping? Run two miles? Four?
At this point, I just kind of became addicted to the way it makes me feel and that keeps me going. It's a good, meditative break from life. And in that respect, running is something that's just for you, so comparing's never really helpful.
Advice? Personally, I found there is a "breaking in" period for your body to get used to running, but after a while, what's still lingering around are mean mental tricks. Like that you should stop running because you're out of breath and tired. It feels scary and you want to breathe more and you get tense and then boom, you're done. But after the "breaking in" period, the most important thing is just to relax. That it. For me that's the key both to really get started running and to really enjoy it. Just relax!