OK… I am ready for one of those shows like “So You Think You Can Dance.” I danced like a champ on the elliptical yesterday for 45 minutes in the late morning because I wanted to sleep through my planned early run. For some reason, I lose feeling in my toes when I’m on the elliptical meaning blood is not flowing in my feet very well. I tried staying on the balls of my feet but I think it was too late. I will monitor that… I also did some weight lifting afterward which felt good since I hadn’t done that in a long time. I used the machines and went at a fast pace; 3 sets, 8-12 reps, upper body only…
Today, I ran on the treadmill and I realized that my form and stride are totally erratic! Since you are stationary (or supposed to be) on that thing, you can easily tell when you speed up or slow down or wobble because you have stationary references all around you. I can see how the treadmill can help you have a consistent stride and good form at any particular speed. Hopefully, I will get better the more I use it and maybe it will help me run more smoothly and gently out on the roads. I think I did get better by the end of the 45 minutes today. Music helped here also…
I struggle with the consistency thing… My brother tells me to make it so easy that you can’t blow it off. However, I want/need feedback and to feel like I did some WORK! This is what motivates me because it makes me feel really good… I think I have enough reasons in my brain to NOT blow off the exercise like seeing my kids every morning, feeling good all over, and positive feedback from friends. Also, I want to run! I am reading “Born to Run” by Christopher McDougall (about 3/4 done) and this book is inspirational and makes me want to run. It is still a battle in my brain every day though so he may be right… Right now, I want to keep working hard and I will make that stick so it can spill over into all aspects of my life. Work HARD and Play HARD is how I want to live…
That physical feedback is certainly very valuable and a big motivational tool, but it’s tough to get feedback from a workout you never performed. There is however the other part of feedback, and thats the mental component. Walking an easy 15 minutes is a thousand times better than doing nothing. It’s a bit tougher to see the immediate gratification of this evolution because it’s all about the messages you play in your head. Those messages that suggest skipping the days workout, come from the very place in our head that needs re-wiring. Trying to white knuckle our way through a week, month, or year of working out normally results in quitting. I went through this cycle many times. As a personal trainer, I saw this pattern in many of my clients. They always wanted to buy motivation from a trainer who could do it for them.