I’ve been off track lately and it has become an ugly downward spiral. Work has been challenging and I find my reaction is to stress eat comfort foods and not have time (or inclination) to exercise. Then, when I do exercise, it’s been long enough since the last time that I do a limited amount to try to ease back into it.
Nothing wrong with building momentum slowly. I know if I jump in too quickly I tend to injure myself and then I’m right back at the start – actually, I’m worse off than if I’d never started. This happened back in May when I rapidly upped my running mileage and developed problems with my Achilles. But, building momentum requires consistency and that’s what I’ve been unable to bring to it.
I had tried to run just two miles a day every day for a month. I figured that would build the consistency without risking injury. By the end I could really be ramping up the pace and be in a great position once I started adding distance. A great plan. Except… “every day for a month” quickly devolved into “three days this week” on the way to “maybe I’ll run on Sunday if the weather’s nice.” Ridiculous, I know.
And we won’t even discuss how far behind I am on weight lifting and mountain biking…
So, as we leave summer behind, I’m fatter, heavier, slower, and weaker. That sounds demotivating (and I am feeling a bit demotivated), but the good news is: 1) it’s all in my control; and 2) progress should be quickly noticeable.
