Well, it happened, I have joined the numerous amounts of people who fall off the New Year goal wagon. Pooh, that is frustrating. I know this happens to a lot of people including myself in the past with other goals, but that does not make it any less frustrating. How did this happen, well if you have been following for any length of time then you know I have struggled with distractions. When I say distractions, I am talking about life. Job responsibilities, appointments things like that. In addition to that just the mojo to do it. This caused my goal to get pushed further and further back until I realized one day that I have fallen, and I need to make some changes to get going on making my goal a reality. I had lost the drive to make my goal a reality for a while but that has changed, now I just need to keep this drive going.
Lack of motivation also started to play a factor, for several weeks now I have been feeling very lethargic. People who live in places that do not see much sun or suffer from seasonal depression may understand what I am talking about and may have also felt as I do. These factors played a strong role in pushing the goal to the back burner though they were not the only factors. So how can I keep motivated? Well, you guys here for one, the accountability to report back what I am doing has been a help. On that note another idea I came up with and started with these virtual races I am started the one for Hadrian’s wall and it has definitely helped motivate me. I will also be brainstorming some ideas on how to motivate myself because I am certain I am not the only one who lost the motivation to see a goal through. Maybe something as simple as a to-do list before work will help. I’m not sure, but if you have ideas, let me know what works for you when having to make sure you put the effort in that is needed to accomplish your goals.
The aha moment when I realized all of this was when I was finishing up my last blog post. I looked at myself and realized I was not only nowhere near ready to put any type of walking training schedule in place. I needed to just put something in place to be doing some form of working out every day. I need to put more of a conscious effort into it, for me, that means when I think of it I need to do it. If I say I will do it later there is a 90% chance that it is not going to happen. My track record on that is not very good. For the time being, I am going with when I think of it or during this time period in the morning, I do the physical activity. Now it is not much, any trainers or fitness gurus out there would probably be shocked at how little. But it is a starting point that I have been encouraged to build from to prove to myself that I can do it each week and then add to it slowly. So that is what I’m doing with the hopes that I can add distance and I have started also working on walking pace.
Now that I have had the realization, what am I doing about it? Getting up, dusting myself off, and keep going. While it does make me feel a little discouraged that I am basically restarting it also makes me that much more determined. Like I said above I am starting with reforming the simple habit of working out. I am doing it in such a way so that I can prove to myself that yes, I have time to do this every day to not trigger anxiety about that. While I am doing that, I am also being aware I need to be putting more conscious effort in for the time being. That goes back to when I think of it do it while I am forming the habit so that I am also setting up a routine regarding it. I think that will help fight the anxiety about having enough time. In the future, this may also mean reworking some schedule aspects to fit in longer workouts if need be but that is then. I hope that I can moreover to a walking training schedule by the end of next week to start working on some other aspects like speed and such, but I don’t want to get away from myself with extra goals.
I don’t currently have a timeline for which I would like to transition from walking to running. But somewhere in the not-too-distant future is the hope. Getting this into a habit to me seems more important and then as I make each transition toward being able to run a 5k keeping the habit and the motivation for the habit seems the best way forward. While going backward and saying bag it seems easy, I don’t want to. I want to be able to do this for myself. Has anyone else had a goal like that, they just want to be able to do it there is not a huge reason why. That all in mind I have decided to try something with races maybe I have recently started an online one and it does seem to be helping a little in encouraging me to find the time. As I am thinking this year there may be more races that I will be able to do over weekends but we will have to see. It may take a few to see if that helps with the motivation. I am just thinking maybe something extrinsic now would help since I don’t have the discipline yet. I will get there but it is a massive struggle now.
Even if you don’t have a training timeline or schedule as you progress to either further distances or more time something I am realizing is to keep reminding yourself that you can do it. Allow the endorphins that are going to come out from the exercise to come out. Once I get to the point of exercising that is an easy thing, and often the endorphins are there. For some, they may find it harder if they have a lot of stuff on their mind during it. I have also had times like that and while the walk or workout is still enjoyable, I feel distracted or not the same after it. That is all if with the distracting thoughts I get to the workout as this is a new habit, I am struggling to build I feel like I am distracted easily.
Life is always going to get in the way, that is becoming glaringly obvious in so many ways. It will never stop but neither will I. This may take longer than I thought but that is okay, and I feel really optimistic right now, or at least that is how I am coming across. In truth, I am just feeling really determined even though my thighs are annoyed, and my back has been killing me for a week I feel really determined. That I think is what is going to push me through, holding on to the determination. That will see me through the days that feel like I have no time, no motivation, and whatever else may come. That and this sudden desire to prove people wrong, no idea who but I just want to prove people wrong. So yeah no idea where this one is going to lead, well I mean aside from being able to run a 5k but it seems like there will be a lot of other growth and achievements along the way.
Lemons or Lemonade 