So, have your blown your fitness resolutions yet?!

Seriously check this out peeps. Just how hard are you working out.  January 12th, 2011.  Twelve days into the new year. So, how many of you have made fitness, weight loss, and or exercise resolutions or goals?

Yeah me too.  How many of you started out strong?  Really strong, only to find that by now you are seriously dragging it... if you are continuing at all.

Here's a thought; yes I actually do have thoughts...lol, ease off a bit. Take it a bit easier and build up over time.

I jumped in with a 120 minutes of walking with trekking poles. Of course the cramps in my back the rest of the day kept pulling me over backwards, leaving me nauseous and miserable.  Nearly knocked me out of my resolution saddle so to speak.

After I'd pulled that stunt, I had a Doctor's appointment, with my cardiologist  Yes my heart is fine (YaY!).

He said something that stuck with me. Slow down and pace yourself. Starting to strong, overdoing it is a big part of what causes people to quit.

So here I am, pacing myself. I am sure I will over do it again... but I am making an effort to workout for 100 days for 30 minutes a day. I really want to keep this commitment.... I also want to be able to walk that half marathon the end of May.  I've tried to get there for several years and kept tripping myself up.

That's right I tripped myself up, three guesses how.  Yeah I figured you'd get it.  I over did it and crashed. I went for the marathon last year; worked way too hard too fast and crashed. I was so discouraged that it's taken me the rest of 2010 to get moving again in a positive manner. Of course I gained back the pounds I'd lost as well as another 30.

Now I'm taking them off again, conditioning again; and taking it at a much slower pace.

I watch the Biggest Loser (love that show) I see those huge weight losses and the balls to the wall conditioning. Last year I tried to do the same thing they were. On my own with the rest of my life going on as well.  Were I at the Biggest Loser ranch, doing only workouts, with the constant support of trainers I would go for the balls to the wall too.  But since I'm not, pacing myself for the long haul is the thing for me.

My life responsibilities and desires do not stop because I want to work out.  For me it's living my life in a healthier manner.... for the rest of my life.

John's article is posted below... be sure to read it.  It is well worth the effort.

Life is a journey, may yours be filled with positive surprises.
Mary E. Robbins
307.788.0202
Robbins Run Ranch

*********  

Wrong is the new Right

by John "The Penguin" Bingham 

It’s day 12 of the 100 Days Challenge and the lessons are coming in faster than the miles. I’m sure my wife, Coach Jenny Hadfield, is feeling vindicated by what has transpired. She had the idea for creating a world-wide, interactive, incentive program. I didn’t even know what a world-wide, interactive, incentive program would look like. It turns out, it looks a lot like the 100 Days Challenge. There are 10,000 people, on 6 continents, doing everything from running and walking to Wii Fit and Zumba.

As surprising as the numbers have been, it’s been my own reaction that has been equally as surprising. I’m a “ready – shoot – aim” kind of guy in a lot of ways. As a free-lance musician I more than once got myself into a difficult spot because I said I could do something when I clearly could not. So, my telling people that I would exercise for 100 days in a row, and then inviting them to join me isn’t exactly out of character.

Here I am, 12 days into the 100 days, and I’ve already found myself getting in the 30 minutes NOT because it was what I really wanted to do that day but because I feel like I’ve committed to it – to myself and to the 10,000 others on the list. It’s not like I think the world would end if I missed a day, but I don’t want to miss a day.

What I’ve discovered that I’ve been doing wrong, and I’ve been doing it wrong for YEARS, is that I ALWAYS exercise too hard. Even when I tell myself I’m just going to do an easy run, or walk, or cycle, I somehow manage to do just a little bit too much. I go just a little bit too far. I go just a little bit too fast. And I get just a little bit injured.
I started this challenge with the same mindset. Day one, I was gung-ho. I went at it with enthusiasm. It was a new year, a new day, a new chance. Day two I went after it again. And day three.
About day 4 I discovered that I was tired. There was fatigue in my legs. My attitude had begun to falter. My enthusiasm was already running out. I couldn’t quit, I had made the commitment. But I knew I had to do something differently.

So I backed off. I mean I REALLY backed off. The goal was to move intentionally for 30 minutes a day for 100 days. 30 minutes. Period. So I slowed down. I took it easier. I got in my 30 minutes, checked off the day on my sheet, and was happy.

Now, at day 12, I’m beginning to feel the benefits of taking it easy. Taking it one day at a time. Being happy with what I did do instead of upset by what I didn’t.
I’m going to do this challenge. I don’t have any doubts now. And I will have learned the most important lesson I have ever learned. It’s always better to do a little to little than a little too much.

Waddle on,
John

John “the Penguin” Bingham, Competitor Magazine columnist
Author, The Courage to Start, No Need for Speed, Marathoning for Mortals and Running for Mortals.
Have a question for John? E-mail it to thepenguin@johnbingham.com.

John "The Penguin" Bingham (98)