Monday, June 24, 2013

Monday Goals

I'm already almost halfway through summer break. What the what.

Today I want to lean more to the fitness side of my life and talk about what the dealio has been. 

Because I enjoy reading a lot of healthy living blogs, there are often times where I'm not really sure what kind of physical activity I like to get into. Everybody is different, and that changes activity habits, food preferences, nutritional opinions, so on. Being rather young in the blogging atmosphere can be hard at times, because sometimes rather than being inspired by blogs, I try to do what other bloggers are doing, even if it's not entirely working for me. 

That's the beauty of what I'm trying to accomplish right now - what works for me. I'm not going to feel guilty for not being able to (or frankly, wanting to) run a 10-miler or complete a Crossfit workout. I want to do what's best for my mind and body.

That being said, my runs and workouts have been really mediocre for me lately which is odd because I generally enjoy them, despite their difficulty level! I think it's 5% physical and 95% mental. I haven't been liking when I get too uncomfortable on my runs, and pshya, you can't get stronger/faster if you're too comfortable. I also don't really know how to get to my goals.

Hookay I'm getting long-winded as usual, so let's cut to the chase: I've been doing some research on how to be a stronger runner (mentally and physically), looking up training plans, and finding workouts that I know I would enjoy. I've also made a list of reasonable goals that I would like to accomplish during the week, and I'll update ya'll on Friday. So here goes:

Goals
  • Find a recipe and craft to complete on Pinterest
  • Bake bread 
  • Find a portrait to begin drawing
  • Do a self-care activity
  • Get through 4 chapters in my book
  • Do 5 things for somebody else

Those seem pretty reasonable, right?

Fitness

My goals for fitness right now are really just to be stronger. I really just want to feel more difference in my strength, speed, and mentality. I never thought I'd use a plan, they just always seemed unappealing and rigid to me (the opposite of what I want my daily activity to be), but I found one that I'll follow and see how it turns out.
  • So I've looked at all sorts of different training plans and I really like this 5k training plan that involves a mix of running, speed workouts, strength, cross-training, and rest days. It's flexible, and it involves all of the ways I like to stay active, as opposed to a plan such as Couch to 5k which focuses mainly on running. I think this one is the best option to get stronger all around. I talked with my Mom about it, and she's good with it, and it totally fits into the guidelines of what my nutritionist is okay with. I'm excited!


In my research, I found a great post from No Meat Athlete on 7 simple ways to be a stronger runner. They're all really great and I think that I can follow through with them!

Above all, I need to keep my mentality in check. If I find myself getting discouraged, I need to realize that nobody's perfect. If I notice I'm getting obsessive or anxious, I need to step back and remember why I enjoy being active in the first place. If I'm feeling tired or run down, I need to remember that the plan is just a guideline, and if I need to rest on a day designated for a run, it's okay to just skip that day. And I also need to remember that this is all mostly because I enjoy it, not because I feel the need to exercise. 

Well this ended up being a more serious discussion than planned. All this to say, I'm super excited to reach my goals this week! Bring it.

No comments:

Post a Comment