I started the 75 Hard program on May 1. Today is July 30. That’s damn near three months of twice-a-day workouts. Here is what has happened.
I aimed low. Two walks in the neighborhood would be my workouts. I allowed myself to go to the gym (I like it except for the fucking masks and fucking lockdown fucking bullshit, but that’s not the gym’s fault) but didn’t expect it or force myself. I allowed myself to run if I felt like it, but didn’t expect it or force myself.
Sometime in late June or early July I found myself waking up early to walk. I didn’t force it, I didn’t want it, I didn’t expect it. But now I’m waking up automatically and I’m out the door around 5:00 am. I always wanted to be an early riser . . . and now I am. Without trying.
I rarely set out to run. Yet I break into a trot more and more. It just happens, without stress or effort.
I can bang out 4 miles of running anytime I feel like it now.
The lesson learned:
- Change happens automatically and you don’t have to engineer it.
- Create the conditions for good change and good change will happen. (I bet the reverse is true, too.)
- It takes a long time. Longer than you think. No, even longer than that. I feel as though the early riser, automatic runner behavior is a new sprout that must be nurtured to grow into a sturdily-rooted tree.
Aim low. Win. Repeat. The results will take care of themselves.