I have been dragging for a few weeks now, if not for the whole last month. I have missed a fair amount of workouts, especially during the week as work has ramped up on the way to year-end, but I haven’t stopped. What has kept me going during this rough patch is not really motivation. Motivation comes and goes and my motivation started the off-season a little early, right after I got back from the high of volunteering at IRONMAN Chattanooga (which is the subject of a different post that I will write a little later). What has kept me going, even at this early stage in my life since getting up off the couch is the power of routine.
Sunday is long run day. It has been that way since early in 2016 when coach Kelly set up my weekend warrior-style training with Saturday as long bike ride day, to coincide with the Saturday champagne ride at the Bike Depot in Waxhaw, North Carolina, and Sunday as long run day. So I spent the better part of 2016 doing 3-4 hours on the bike on Saturdays )plus brick runs most Saturdays) and 1-2 hours running on McAlpine Creek/McMullen Creek Greenway on Sundays. Whether I feel “up to it” or not, Sunday is long run day and it no longer feels like a Sunday in Charlotte if I am not on my greenway seeing the same stagnant green creek, running over the wooden bridges and then running up the same narrow paved trail back to my car.
The pristine crystal clear waters of McAlpine Creek Greenway, Charlotte, North Carolina
When you start getting up off the couch take a moment to remember never to to underestimate the power of routine. As adult-onset athletes we may not have a lifetime of childhood memories to fall back on and inspire us to hit the trails when we don’t feel like getting out of bed. So part of our challenge is to make our own new sense memories of an active life and build on those to help keep us up off the couch. So every weekend when you get out of bed and do the activity you do, remember that you are not just going to do your ride or your run or your swim or your yoga class. You are also building the sense feeling of what it’s like to get up off the couch in the morning and do what serves you and your body well. That is the power of routine.
Wooden bridge over a pistachio-colored pond.
My Greenway. Bought and paid for with several hundred miles of running.