One of Rob’s favorite sayings is, you can’t boil the ocean, meaning, you can’t do it all at once. He says this to me often, because I’m a bit of a dreamer. I spend a fair amount of time with my feet floating above ground in dreamy land, instead of firmly planted in reality. I like to think I can do it all. But I can’t.
For the past year or so, I’ve been trying to get a grasp not only on my weight, but my fitness and running. I kept thinking I’d train for some big race and that would not only get my fitness and running back on track, but my mind and body as well. I’d use that as a tool to get this weight off and get my mind back in the game. And so, I registered for one race after the other, only to encounter one speed bump after the other. I was discouraged and frustrated and ready to quit altogether(maybe not really, but I thought about it a few times in a fairly dramatic fashion). I’ve had some lows over the years in my running, but this was the lowest, and it had lasted longer than any set back I had ever had.
I considered taking a step back because maybe there was something better, I just had no idea what better was. And then I started 80 Day Obsession, and everything changed.
Before starting 80DO, I knew, for whatever reason at this point in my life, racing wasn’t going to get me to my goals, but I didn’t know what other steps to take. I felt lost and stuck and unsure. Once I started 80DO, my focus shifted. Everything started to click. My mind started to sharpen and my body started to get stronger as the weight came off and my motivation returned. The nutrition is a huge factor in this process, and it is completely changing not only my outside, but my inside as well.
When I started this program, I quickly came to the conclusion that I had to go all in. I had to give it my all. Before I started I had tossed around the idea of only doing some of the workouts so I could keep running or only doing the nutrition during the week ha! I was a wee bit desperate to avoid any true sacrifice of the many vices I had become accustomed to, which really speaks to the depth of the rut I was in. I was hesitant to go all in, but literally two days into the program, I knew. I knew I had to focus all of my efforts and energy to getting myself healthy again(mind, body, and soul) before I shifted my focus to running and racing or triathlon. So I put distance running and racing on the shelf for the next 80 days.
I decided my first focus was the nutrition, followed by completing the program’s 6 workouts a week. If I had the time and/or energy, I would run some, but it wouldn’t be my focus. I also decided to get on my bike a couple of times a week to change things up, but again, it was more of a bonus, not the goal. I’ve been running 1-2 easy miles a couple of times a week as a warm up and doing 15-20 minutes on my bike when time allows, but that’s it. The 80DO workouts are no walk in the park, plus they are lengthy which means they require a bigger time commitment. I believe that taking the pressure to run and race out of the equation has made the difference in my success so far.
I’m 100% in and committed to this program. I have goals after it’s over, which include running and triathlon, so I’m working on setting myself up for being able to dive into that when this is over, but I’m taking my time. I’m easing in. I’m in Phase 2, so I’m adding some longer runs(and by longer I mean more than 15-20 minutes but no more than 35-40) and slightly longer rides when I can. If I miss them, I miss them. They are literally base training for Summer races and my goal race in the Fall. More on that later.
So what in the world is the point of this post? I guess it’s to go all in. Set your sights on that one goal(or a couple of manageable ones), and don’t boil the ocean by trying to do it all at one time, because that just simply isn’t possible. You can’t be all things, so choose to do less and do less really well.
I had gotten myself into such a frustrating spot by thinking that the only path to my goals was through running. I was wrong. I’m giving up a lot of things I enjoy to become a healthier version of myself, and running had to fall into that category. Even though many of my ultimate goals INCLUDE running, I needed to take a step back from it and change some other things first, things that would ultimately make me a better and stronger runner. So that’s what I’m doing.
I just want to encourage you to allow yourself to do something different. Challenge yourself by changing things up and you might find that your body AND your mind jump in and thank you for the change. You may find a new sense of purpose in your health and fitness, and you may find that the thing you thought was best, was the thing best set aside. xoxo
The post Why I Put Running On The Shelf appeared first on Red Head On The Run.