Knocking a Few (Mental) Obstacles Out of the Way

I hit a weird mental slump this week. Maybe it's from the break in routine over the holidays, maybe it's from scrambling to get back into school & work routines, maybe it's a bit of a loss of momentum after being sick, who knows.

You may remember me mentioning last week that I've signed up for my first try-a-tri. I'm very excited about this. It's one of my big goals for this year, and it gives me a reason to finally put in the work to improve my rudimentary swimming and running skills.

Now, I'm very new to running. By early December, I was at the run 2 blocks/walk a block stage and was doing that several times a week with my dog. But I stopped for a couple of weeks when I was sick, and somewhere in those weeks I developed a mental barrier about running. I have still been getting out the door just as often as usual,  but I have found myself unwilling to run a single step when I'm out. Oh, I've been coming up with plenty of excuses - it's too wet, it might be slippery, I'm wearing the wrong coat, it's too cold, I'm dressed too warmly, should probably replace my shoes before I run again. Bah.

It's not fear of the tri, I know that. It's just...inertia?

And then it spread to swimming. Can't remember the website to look up the schedule online so can't go because I don't know what the lane swim times are. 

Never mind that there's this invention called Google - and that I walk RIGHT PAST the pool on the way to the dog park EVERY DAY. (Yes, I am lucky enough to have a pool, a dog park and a skating rink right at the bottom of my street.)

Excuses, excuses. Double bah.

I remember this sort of behaviour from a few years ago, of throwing obstacles in my way instead of just getting going on what I wanted to do. For example - I'll start going to a gym in the new year. I'll start eating less junk when I join a gym. Wait, can't join a gym until I buy some workout clothes. And also need to get healthy enough to make it though a workout. So, I can't join just yet.

I thought I was over that kind of thinking but apparently not. Started telling myself that once I developed my training plan, well, then I'd start running again. And swimming. As for actually developing that training plan? Well, I do have a newsletter to write this weekend for my daughter's school. And work to catch up on after my vacation. And my daughter's birthday to start planning for. So, I'll get to it...soon.

When really? All I needed to do was run a few steps.

Which I finally did last night.

Got home from the gym wearing exactly the perfect clothes to run in, put the leash on the dog and headed out the door. Walked one block north, then ran that one block back home. Smiled. Went inside and hit Google. Took me 15 seconds to find both the pool schedule and a tri training plan.

(BTW - lane swim is Mon-Fri, 8.30-9.30pm and 4-5pm on Sat/Sun, right after family swim time)

One step, and 15 seconds, was all it took to knock down an obstacle that I'd thrown in my own way.

That was easy enough. Why did it seem like it was going to be such a big deal?

Anything standing between you and what you want to do? What's it going to take to knock it out of your way?

Here's this week's recap -

Unbelievably mild for January. Kind of a drag that we haven't been able to so sledding this season.

Saturday - 2.6K dog walk, Curves + 30 pushups + 2x35s planks. Skating in the afternoon

Notice the lack of snow...and how no one is wearing mitts or a hat. Crazy mild!

Sunday - Rest day. Drove to a different dog park with fenced forest trails. Walked about 2K. We took it slow and easy while Stella ran around like she was in doggy paradise. Which I guess she was!

Monday - 2K dog park walk followed by Curves circuit + boot camp #3 for the year (240 assorted crunches, 3x35s planks, 30+30 pushups), followed by a 1K dog walk.

Tuesday - 1K speed walk.

Wednesday - Rest day.

Thursday - 2K dog walk followed by Curves circuit + Zumba #1 for the year + boot camp #4 (150 assorted crunches, 7 minutes on stairstepper, 2x35s planks, 30+25 pushups). 1 block dog jog (see above) afterwards.

Friday - Oh, Friday the 13th. It rained all night, then temps dropped and we got a dumping of snow. Hit a patch of ice on the way driving to work and slid right smack into a curb. We are A-OK but the car? Well, we're waiting to hear what the insurance company has to say. Sigh.