Working Out or Out Working?
3 Ways to create momentum and growth with each session!
I was hunched over staring at my watch sucking in bits of humid air as I tried to justify the results I was seeing. My first thought was that it was in the 90’s and the humidity was over 70%, so that combined with the fact that I had been up since 4:30 AM might account for the sluggish results. I was starting to fool myself until I realized that those variables had been the same for a couple of months at this point. As I peeled back every excuse I could come up with, I realized that the physical conditions weren’t impacting my run as much as the mental conditions were. I had started treating my runs like a job, punching the clock for an hour, and then heading home. I wasn’t enjoying them as much, and I was starting to find reasons to skip them here and there. I had felt this before and knew what was going to happen next.
Nearly three years ago my family and I moved from Jupiter Florida to Dublin Ohio. That fact in and of itself may cause you to stop reading this article, and write me off as crazy. Just to reel you back in, I wanted my kids to grow up near their family, and moving to Ohio was the only way to do it. Before we came to Ohio, I had turned myself into a very active endurance athlete. I had never been athletic growing up, but a heart attack in my twenties and about 100 extra pounds got me off the couch and running. Over the course of 10 years, I became an Ironman, ultramarathoner, and endurance junkie. My Dad-Bod may have looked like I drank too much beer and enjoyed sleeping in, but the reality was that I was running 70 to 80 miles a week while starting a family and holding down a demanding job. My friends used to marvel at the fact that I would choose events to participate in by how many I could cram into a single weekend. I’d do a triathlon on Saturday, and a marathon on Sunday. On rare exciting weekends, I would find two marathons to do in a weekend or a triathlon festival that allowed you to compete in multiple events over two days. I didn’t do it because I was particularly good, but rather I loved the training and how it enhanced every other aspect of my life. I was a better husband, father, and leader when I trained.
We moved to Ohio, and that all stopped. I couldn’t figure out how to train in Ohio, and so I started creating excuses for why I didn’t want to. I tried running in the snow a few times only to have my fingers freeze to my gloves, or get minor frostbite on my toes. I turned to the repetition of the treadmill and Netflix, but that basically was the beginning of the end of my enjoyment in endurance training. I mixed in runs and workouts here and there over the next couple of years, but mostly just to keep my belly behind my boobs, and off my belt. The pandemic however inspired me to get healthy again and start trying to find my passion for running. I ditched my traditional gear and decided to run barefoot, or pretty close to it. I instantly connected, and things started to shift. I got my focus back, my engagement in my family and job increased, I wrote a book, and started to really enjoy being back out there.
Standing hunched over looking at the profile of my five-mile run, I realized that something was wrong. I had started working out as part of a routine again, and it wasn’t just for the fun of it. Running was turning into a chore, and not an expression of who I was and where I wanted to go. I lost this battle the first time, and I wasn’t going to do it again. I know what ignites and kindles my passion for endurance sports, and there are three things I can do.
Understand Your Why
I started running for health reasons. I didn’t really know what I was doing when I logged my first run, but I knew I needed to do something and survival was a pretty good reason why. After I fixed my blood pressure and dropped 100 pounds, running shifted to being part of my ethos or who I was. I kept running because that is who I wanted to be, and who I wanted my family to see me be. My health became a by-product of the experience, but pushing and testing myself became the tools for helping me define who I was. Simon Sinek talks routinely about his concept of the Golden Circle, where he describes an organization’s need to know why they operate and to embrace it. Working out in any form requires the same clarity of mission. If you can’t determine why you are working out, then you will see diminishing results as you fail to push yourself and hold yourself accountable. Without understanding why you are working out, you try just a little less every day until it simply becomes something you do. When that complacency sets in, then you stop seeing the benefits you were looking for when you started.
Take a minute to think about why you are working out. I’m in my 40’s with two young children. At my current trajectory I will be absolutely worthless for my kids as they get older, or my grandkids if I am blessed with them. I want to be able to build the physical and mental foundation to be able to be active with my family and enjoy the retirement that I worked so hard to prepare for. Any level of working out requires your time, sacrifice, and usually pain and suffering. Make sure you know why you are doing it if you want to see results.
Set Goals
Pre-COVID-19 it was easy to look up a race, set some time goals, and start training to that end. Things are a little more challenging now, and goal setting isn’t as easy. Sure you can always tell yourself that you are going to workout to lose weight. You can then expect to be part of the 80% of people that make New Year’s resolutions and break them by mid-February. There are dozens of acronyms out there that help you set goals, but I have always gravitated towards SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-Bound). I failed to set goals for myself this time because I thought the novelty of the barefoot running would drive me past needing those.
Much like my lofty ideas about the novelty of the Ab-Roller, my commitment has started to wane as the novelty has worn off of my new infatuation. I definitely want to lose about 15 pounds this time around, but I also want to get back in marathon shape. My SMART goal for losing the weight would be to burn at least 500 calories per day through physical activity, while also reducing 500 calories daily from my diet. I will probably switch this to a weekly goal as well to allow for the inevitability of change in my schedule, but the base for that will be my daily targets. I’ll have a similar goal, but with mileage for improving my overall fitness as I am to get back in marathon shape. Breaking your goals down into one or two decisions a day will make it more manageable to achieve them.
Find a Tribe
There used to be a website called DailyMile, which was used to track your workouts and interact with friends while you do it. It basically gave way to Strava, Facebook, and a slew of other ways to connect with people about your workouts. I liked DailyMile because my friends and I were all on it, and we could keep up with and motivate each other. I mentioned to my friend the other day that I was struggling again with motivation, and he set up a Facebook group to bring the gang back together again. It used to be great to show up to your local running group for a weekly run, or a cross-fit gym to go through a WOD, or to slip into a November Project workout. I read about the November Project in Runner’s World, but couldn’t really wrap my head around it until I got to experience it first hand. This movement made me realize that a tribe genuinely motivates you to be a better version of yourself, regardless of what you are doing. There are people that are interested in the same workout you are doing, or have a variation that could excite you. As I wrestled with my own mediocrity, I texted a friend of mine and we set up a time to run together. Find your tribe, and supercharge your focus.
Anyone can put a random workout together, but unless you are focused, motivated, and engaged you won’t make the gains you are looking for. Putting in the work is sometimes more about your mental state than it is about the physical accomplishments you find yourself achieving. Your motivation will wane, your workouts will seem like work, and you will want to quit. Take a few minutes and remind yourself why you started working out in the first place. Then, revisit your goals to ensure you are headed in the right direction and on track to achieve what you set out to. Finally, find a tribe. The world has gotten incredibly small and connected, so don’t let the physical boundaries impair your ability to connect. You will find that supporting your tribe will be just as fulfilling as when they support you. When you find yourself working out as just another part of your routine, then take a step back and remind yourself why you are out there working so hard.
