Do Not Quit

If you’re thinking of quitting, remember why you are doing this in the first place. Fitness is important, being healthy is important, sure, you’ve heard it tons of times.

What does it mean to you? Why do you want to be fit, why do you want to take the massive step of changing yourself and your body?

Don’t quit. You’ve come this far. You’ve made the choice. You’ve got the drive. You can’t quit now.

It sucks, I know. It’s not a cake walk and speaking of which, you’re probably craving cake right now cause of your diet. Why are you doing this to yourself? You could be eating cookies and lounging on the couch.

However, it is in those moments that you remember why you need to change. You don’t want to lounge about anymore and cookies, pshh, who needs them? Seriously though, back me up here, cause my will shakes as well sometimes. Is it weird to have dreams of cookies?

Anyway…

Don’t quit. Results take time to show but then again, most awesome things in life do take some time, right? You can do this. You are doing this.

Who Am I To Be Lazy

My legs were tired and the sky looked as though it couldn’t make up it’s mind between the sun shining or the rain pouring. I thought about my gym day yesterday and someone who made an impact on me. Running was going to happen. Who am I to be lazy?

There are moments in life that will stay with you. One sight that will remain in my mind will be a man that couldn’t walk working out next to me in the gym. He was in one of those powered scooters and in a closed area like a gym, it wasn’t the most convenient. However, that didn’t stop him. He carefully made his way to the weights and wire machines and went at them.

He didn’t let anything stop him. He could’ve made up an excuse, hell, he most probably deserved to but no, he still worked on himself. So, who the hell am I to be lazy? Who am I to take a lazy day and skip out on making myself better.

When someone with less can do more than you, you have something you need to change.

 

Walk The Walk

I just went for a run rather soon after eating and apart from nearly throwing up five times on a bridge, I felt great.

I was going to take a cheap rest day today. What I mean by that is my gear was dirty and so that would be my excuse for taking a rest day. However, as I stood in front of the window, I felt as though I need to get out there. If I had enough energy to dance to my favorite songs (while no one was looking) then I had enough energy to run.

So, I dawned my gear and ran.

I want a great body. I want to train like a pro. So, I need to start acting like one. Will a professional allow a day to pass where they haven’t hit the pavement or swam laps? Can they stand at the window and resist the urge to move? Hell no. So you shouldn’t either.

If you talk the talk, you have to walk the walk. You have to. If you want to become the best, you need to act like you already are. Run like a runner, not like a beginner.

Get out there. Now.

Just Keep Going

I’ve had my fill of sugar today. A lot was bothering me and so my will became weak. I had myself some chocolate and some ice cream. It may not seem like a sin, but in order to get the body that I dream of, I’ll have to do better.

I did, however, run today. I was about to allow my excuses to get the better of me but I laced up my running shoes and ran. If I had not done so, I would have felt like shit now.

Tough days, cheat days, down days can and will come. The only thing that matters is that you just keep going.

You’ve eaten a donut and you feel guilty. Go to the gym. You’ve given in and had that second helping at dinner. Go for a run. Mistakes will come and go but your effort will haunt you. Just keep going and you’ll never look back and be ashamed.

You can do this. Just keep going.

But My Gear Is Dirty!

A good friend of mine wants to run with me this weekend. I’m crashing by his place so I’d have to bring my gear with me. Lo and behold, the genius me has forgotten to wash his gear from yesterday.

“My gear is dirty,” I think to myself “Guess we won’t be running.” Secretly, the lazy me smiles from ear to ear.

I love disappointing the lazy me. An excuse is easy, but looking through my wardrobe for a short pants and a good running shirt is worth the trouble. It’s an easy fix that will cause a sweaty and sore me later on, but a happier me in the end.

Excuses can come in any way, shape, or form, it’s just easy to forget that if your mind is creative enough to come up with reason why you can’t, then it sure as hell can come up with a reason why you can. 

That Run Was Hell

So, I have been honest recently in saying that I stopped my fitness routine for a while. Blah blah blah, excuses, plain and simple I stopped for at least three weeks. I took a look in the mirror and thought, “Not again.” Thus, I made a comeback run today.

The gods have forsaken me apparently because that run was hell.

Every comeback run is going to feel terrible, that’s just how it works. It’s as though your body is reminding you of the consequences of stopping your workouts. I was no exception.

From the minute I began to move, my mind was alive. Excuses began pouring out. My legs were heavy and tired. My lungs felt like they weren’t taking in enough oxygen. Even the sun was an excuse, the sun! I remember thinking for a moment, “It’s way too bright outside, if I don’t have my sunglasses I might damage my eyes.”

After laughing at my pathetic excuse, I decided there was nothing that could stop me.

Running is both a liberation and a torture at the same time. It’s you versus your body and a lot of times it hurts. However, to be out there, to be running and only thinking about breathing and where to place your next foot; that’s what it’s all about. Being healthy just plain feels good.

The runner is back and I’m going to make my muscles hate me tomorrow when I workout. Bring on the pain.

Phases Of Running

It’s very interesting to experience the several phases of a run. I’m sure many people go through different ones and perhaps even more or less numbers of phases than I do. I usually go through five.

There’s the first phase, where you feel like you own the world. The second phase is where you immediately regret having ever went outside in the first place. The third phase, I would say the worst phase, is where you contemplate how shameful it would actually be to just fall to the ground and lie there until someone comes to get you. The fourth phase is where your body is so fed up with your so called “will” and “urge to turn your life around” that it just gives up and you keep running. The fifth and final phase, the phase that makes it all worth it, is when you stop your run, knowing you’ve given it your all, and again, feel like you own the world.

The hard part of running, or working out, or doing anything in general, is that the first phases of the activity are always the worst. It is as if those moments are designed to test you, to gauge how badly you want to succeed. It’s like a hill where after your first few steps you think, “Pshh, I got this, I could do this all day” only to, minutes later, be crawling on the ground begging the gods for forgiveness.

The trick is to accept and even welcome these phases because each new one you enter puts you closer towards the end. Oh, you have a cramp? Fantastic, means my body is in the making up excuses phase. That one usually comes before I start to really hit a stride.

Be happy to enter into new phases and understand them. Tell yourself that this is phase so and so, and it comes before this and that. Your mind will be tricked into thinking that the excuses and fatigue come naturally and will pass naturally. If you master this, pretty soon you’ll be able to trick your body into passing through the phases faster and so you can hit your stride sooner and progress to levels you didn’t even think of.