Letting your workout be for you.
Not to be cheesy but there has been a major change in the winds. Today we are having 19mph winds with gusts up to 33mph. While I was out for my 30 min. of movement I was thinking how I feel like the wind sometimes. One minute I’ll be running and pursuing fitness full force and then the next minute I die down.
I touched on earlier a little bit about my past attitude to exercise and while out today I realized I always usually come at it full force and commit to 7 days a week workouts and then I die down, just like the wind because of exhaustion, lack of motivation, or sickness.
I think that is what has me so excited about this program. I’m not starting off in full force I am literally putting one foot in front of the other and only doing what I can. Today for instance, I walked the entire full 30 min vs 10walk-15run-5walk method. Why? My app has been telling me that I am overreaching and need to allow time to recover. I laughed about that yesterday as I shared that piece of news with my friend. In the summer I was running 4-10 miles in the morning and then playing pickleball 1-3hrs later in the evening and i wasn’t overreaching. But, my fitness level is not the same as it was then.
I think I have cookie cut my fitness and running for so long that I’ve been stuck in this mentality that if I don’t follow a program exactly how it is- I’ve failed it or if I can’t run miles and play pickleball for hours then I am not fit.
We are all different though, I am different from you or whoever might be reading this. My fitness level is different, my lifestyle is different, my family dynamics are different, my genetics, race, and everything that contributes to one’s health and weight is different.
And as hard as it is for me to understand this but I can’t expect myself to be able to keep up with an elite athletes workout regime or even a casual runner who has multiple marathon’s under their belt- and that is okay.
So to help make this new program fitting to me and my fitness level currently, I am going to allow myself a rest day from walking/running. I am leaning towards tomorrow being that day because my app is still telling me I need to recover and Wednesday I have plans to play pickleball for the first time in months.
It is funny, I would have no problem offering support and comfort to someone who is starting out like me, and offering them positivity and cheering them on but when it comes to myself I scrutinize and always have to take a step back and look at the ups and not let the downs get to me.
I think we are always harder on ourselves though, which is why it is so important to give ourselves grace. Something that I have been thinking a lot about since my dear insta friend mentioned it to me and I am ever so grateful that she did!
So as I breathe in and out now, I’m choosing to breathe out the fact I walked vs ran, the fact I went less than 2 miles, the fact that I burned only 135 calories (supposedly) and I am breathing in the knowledge that I got outside when I could have given up, I spent time with my precious 2 year old who is now sound asleep (Yay, for a walking nap), I got to take a break from sitting at the computer and editing, and I got the chance to put one step in front of the other - getting me closer to a healthier momma physically and mentally.
- Your Running Momma-