How did I stick to my running habit in the last quarter of 2019?
You’ve probably known from this post here that last summer I was pretty bad at keeping my running routine on track in comparison with the first quarter of 2019. I went from doing 11 runs on March to do a maximum of three on months I could easily go running. Chilly mornings and breezy evenings didn’t suit me apparently. I was going to procrastinate big time or doing something so important that I can’t remember doing now.
My last fall run was on 19 November. An exceptionally busy month that ended with a trip to Napoli. Great fun that was and hope to share it with you soon! I’ve come back from this trip with a desire to follow up my routine as I do every time I am gone away and even on I am doing a weekend trip, like visiting my parents or going to the mountains, or doing anything that presumably takes me away from my style of being in the every day life mode. I raised into a freak, I know! The thing is that me being home it means that there’s nothing else keeping me away from getting back to what I do and I’m always doing something. If I don’t write, I run or cook or clean or learn. I am the kind of person that gets busy. I am giving myself things to do so that I keep that energy within me and not get lazy, waste time and then complain about it. Even so, I have times when I do not stick with my routine and in the last couple of months, I’ve got to the conclusion that this is happening because I don’t know how to manage stress combined with fatigue and my constant desire to accomplish EVERYTHING at home and at work. I reach a point where I want to do them all and be more than perfect if that could even be possible.
So one of my goals for 2020 is to take a step back and carefully look into what I am doing, analyse a bit what’s more important in the present moment, pick a side, stick to it, and then step by step try to add more into my “always busy” kind of being. I’ve come to realise that having a good sleep is one of the things I should focus more and that I should stop running for all those rabbits in the same time and let someone else have there own rabbit to run after. Then I want to meditate more and that for me it means I am going to write more about things that are not that comfortable to talk about. And all this new way of thinking is for securing a happy state for the long term when my future me will be pleased that I’ve made that decision to slow down a bit and focus on things that are actually important.
In the last couple of years, I’ve read a few books written by professional athletes about their achievements and how they’ve got to the point of massive transformation. I guess I needed to understand how could those people accomplish so much and I barely move from point A (my house) to point B (the park) just to do a quick jog or a walk? The answer to this question didn’t come as I closed the last pages of these books. But the answer is pretty simple and there is no trick, no detour. You just do it. When you don’t have time to go to a run in the park you just make time. When you don’t have enough gut to leave that comfortable place you sit on, you just do. No explanation needed. You repeatedly quit smoking. I know people that they smoke their last cigarette and that was it. They quit smoking.
How?
Everything is already in you. Is like you’ve awakened another person that lives within you. What do you do by repeated actions like running or going to a gym or simply taking long walks four times a week? You just rewrite an action code that is not strange to your genes. But of course, it takes a bit of time!
I remember one time it was Sunday night, freaking cold outside, you could barely meet someone on the streets and I was on my seventh day into a challenge where you had to have one-hour activity per day for a whole week. And that Sunday I’ve felt guilty that I didn’t do anything for the entire day and I’ve decided to go outside at 10 pm and take just a 30 minutes to walk. I was so afraid when I went on the streets that every five minutes I was looking back my shoulder to see if someone was following. Who could someone follow me on that coldness outside? That was a crazy thing to do, but over the years you collect this kind of moments and you build the wires of a reprogrammed person. The transformation is being made.
I was thinking about this recoding yourself while I analysed me steps back last summer and I figured I do not have to blame myself for being over the tracks. I can’t reborn overnight. Yes, some people do it better than me, of course, but I like to be back where I’ve started with small steps. When I’ve got home from Napoli I slowly began to run. Usually, I go on runs having a specific thing to accomplish but this time I went to clear my head out and simply be close to nature as I could in this city.
I am a preacher of moderation. I like things but I try not to obsess over it. Even if I do like a song so much I could hear it all day long, I try not to do that so I can enjoy it even more next time I press play. Yes, I am the kind of person who eats dessert at the end of the dinner and gratefully waits for it. But I am a bit of crazy myself like I warned you! So in order to keep a habit, it should be something that I ultimately do to enjoy it and it’s helping me somehow. Running keeps my weight under control and gives me a clear mind. Cooking teaches me that life is so much good when you know how to make food and share it with your friends. Books just brake my mind with incredible stories and teach me how to write back my boring stories. And travels are just the ultimate escape of a princess in a very different world where she has to find her way through unknown and what a privilege thing to do so!
Conclusion
All those books I’ve read about professional athletes like David Goggins, Scott Jurek or Dean Karnazes taught me that running should be simply a part of yourself. Should be like eating or sleeping. I mean a basic need you have it on your survival system. To get to that state of mind and consider the sport a part of yourself, it will take a long trip to do and only consistency will take you there safe and sound. I’ve been thinking about my running routine for two years now and 2019 showed me I could totally lose all I’ve done so far without caring so much. But the thing with me is that I don’t quite that easy. Running is a big part of my self-educate process. I thought about all the good things that I get from this habit and the benefits are a long list that begins with putting an end on my working hours so I can go home early enough to run. As I said before to keep my weight in control, spend time alone in nature, clear my mind and with that keep my cool on stressful times. Also health benefits, I don’t remember the last time I had flu. I feel energetic, I am more optimistic and confident.
The photo of this article was taken this weekend. January 2020 was a good month for me and my routine. I feel really proud of how I’ve started this year. I kept my state high with my habits. Read almost three books, doing 2 runs a week, cookin’ something delicious, writing a bit I do not want to publish now and doing some other exercise routine that I’ll talk about on my next workout journal. This year I’ll try to write how each month went on and then publish my workout journal at the end of every quarter. That’s how I am going to keep up with what I am doing good and where I have to improve.