18
Jul
07
Couch to 5k: Day Eleven
Posted in
Couch to 5k,
Running,
Me
Run 2 in week 4 of the Couch to 5k plan today. Another early start. Unfortunately, my other half works some late shifts - I didn’t get to bed until 12:30, and my alarm brutally woke me up at 5:30am. Not a good start to the day.
However, I did at least manage to actually get myself out of bed and go running. It appears that once you are in a routine, motivation becomes less of a problem. I’m into more of a routine than I used to be before I moved … I start at 6am, usually (sometimes a few minutes later), and head straight out for a run north from home through Benfield Valley. It’s all uphill for about a mile (alternating running and walking, as per the plan) to the golf course at the top of the hill, then turn around and head back down. I get home between 6:35 and 6:45 - early enough I still have some time for a shower, breakfast and a cup of tea before heading off to work. On the days I don’t run … if I’m not playing squash or racketball I take a rest day. And that’s my morning routine. Needs more bacon.
Anyway, back to the running. I was expecting my calves to be the problem today, but they weren’t. I know nothing about running muscles. The run was easier than Monday, which is the important thing. Maybe last week (which actually seemed to get progressively more difficult) was just an anomaly. My left ankle (actually just above, on the inner side of the leg) feels like I stretched something - might need more of a warm up in future.
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July 20th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
Well done. (I found your professional blog while doing some web research on regexps, and found your “cheat sheets”, downloaded to my mac desktop, and refer to them often–so thanks.) Anyway, while there, I noticed your fitness blog and i am always interested to see how other people manage to make time for fitness, any tricks/tips i can learn, etc.
I agree with your comment above by the way. In fact, i read few years ago that roughly speaking, we all have about the same amount of self-discipline, which is somewhere near zero. Instead, all we have is routine and ritual. So this guy goes on to say that success in something like fitness is a matter of using your small amount of self-discipline just long enough to imprint a ritual, and at that point doing the activity (running in the am, etc.) becomes a matter of inertia, both psychologically and physically (your body and your mind are both accustomed to it).
July 20th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
enjoyed your post about running, I think I’ll do a series on it. Thanks for the cheat sheets also!
July 20th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
Hi Doug. Glad you found the cheat sheets useful and that you found your way here!
I can quite easily believe we really all do have 0 self-discipline and that the key is routines and rituals.
I seem to remember reading somewhere that if you do something for 21 days in a row, it becomes a habit and you’ll keep doing it. That’s why, I think, the “try something tough for just a month” approach is quite smart. If you approach something as short term (aim for 30 days of getting up at 5am for example), then after you’ve done 30 days it’s usually almost easier to continue than not.
July 20th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
No problem Jes, glad you liked the post. I like the look of your blog too.
