MOTIVATION IN THE TIME OF CORONAVIRUS
1. Step aside, surrender control - allow change. Feel frustration, let yourself have time to feel the loss of your original plan. And then be willing to move along. If we get stuck in the wallowing, it just drags on. Allow yourself to be flexible with races that may or may not happen, and think further. Be aware that this is an opportunity to practice following the flow of life.
2. Alter your timeline of goals, giving you a BONUS! You just bought yourself some time! You can still have the big goal that you had, but it is now moved back (make sure to schedule another goal for late summer or fall?) Sooo… that means--- what are the things you had in the back of your mind that you KNEW you were not doing FULLY? Were you not rolling? WRITE IT DOWN. Rolling is your new DAILY THING that you WILL make a habit this month. Was your nutrition off and you know you need to buckle down. Make it happen. If it truly is a goal, you will do it. TAKE CONTROL of the things that you CAN control!! YOU can control if you get in DAILY ABS. You CAN CONTROL your daily nutrition (if you make the choice that it is important enough to you). Change 180 degrees from what you WERE doing. Maybe change course/go backwards/ add additional base training if that is needed and a change for you. OR if you were building up, take a few weeks of short and fun, speed training, working different energy systems. Since you are looking at a timeline pushed way back- why not also come up with a rough 5 year plan for yourself! Any big goals out there? 5 year race goals? Bucket list races? How can this current year actually help you get there?
3. CONTINUE TO LOG/ KEEP TRACK of what you are doing! (and send results/your log to your coach!!) Just because your stage in training has changed, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t matter what you are doing. The amount you are doing matters (not just for the now, but for the big picture- future plan, etc).
4. What to do with any extra time you may have! Ahhhhhh- WOW: here is a list!
*research future possible races that you may like to do!
*listen to podcasts on fitness, motivation, nutrition, other interests while you are working from home, when appropriate of course!
*take an online zoom strength class (WITH ME!!) or yoga! Or take an online zoom class from somewhere that you cannot usually get to (long distance, etc!!!)
*find new routes that are socially distant!
*read books that motivate you: *”Lure of Long Distances” was a really good read and left me craving epic runs and the personal transformation that comes with change. “Practicing the Power of Now” is a simplified book of the full Power of Now book and has take home messages that are understandable to remind us of the importance of being present in our lives (very timely).
5. STRENGTH: you can literally do some strength every day, in various forms (yoga included). I can guarantee you 10000% results will transfer if you keep yourself doing focused strength workouts. It does not take long. HUGE BANG FOR YOUR BUCK. I could go on and on here. Or if you are already really cranking along with your strength workouts- what is the SMALL OVERLOOKED stuff. There are always things that we just simply don’t have time for. Are your shoulders tight? Leaving you to not get a good full extension in the pool, but you typically just can’t fit in a 10 min shoulder/lat/chest stretch series? Do it now.
6. Do NEW! Do things you would never usually consider. Do a “virtual race.” Find out about strava even if you are not interested in the least in comparing/competing virtually with others! Research a ride you have never done, a century, a trail. If you are not on social media, maybe get an Instagram account and search some races, be inspired by some awesome training scenery, etc.
7. REST. This is a definite chance to look critically at what our bodies need, and most of us do need some REPAIRING! Normalize our nervous system with some low impact hikes, yin yoga classes to restore ourselves before diving back in to our revised goals! Allow this PAUSE.
8. Take care of EQUIPMENT. This includes researching options so when your bike shoes need replacing, you have some ideas. Clean your bike well! Check out the tires. Look at your run shoes, research if you need to make a change, make sure you have fast laces for races this summer; make sure you have a fuel belt that you really love. If not, research it. Are you using your Garmin or sports watch/GPS and all of it’s features? If not, learn something new today!
9. Do your workouts for the INTRINSIC VALUE of what the workout gives to you- the internal value of checking off a day’s goal, hitting a 2 mile run time trial on the treadmill that you have been aiming for, challenging yourself to do the new thing, the home workout that you had NO IDEA would kick your butt! Enjoy the scenery on your runs, walks, bike rides, etc. Enjoy the FEELING of being strong, working core, doing new things. Every workout should be full of JOY and appreciation!
10. Keep a routine, despite chaos. If you like to take a day off of exercise every week, continue to do that. Even if your days look completely different, keep a commitment to daily exercise. If you used to have to get up at 4:30AM to get your workout in and now you don’t need to, make sure that you don’t end up skipping it altogether. Sometimes it ends up being harder to commit to your workout when you have more flexibility! Keep a routine, even if the workouts themselves are different than what they used to look like! If you were using weekends to get some long workouts in, maybe change your routine so that you can now enjoy a weekend day off, but make it an intentional knowing change, a routine to count on, not just a missed workout!
BE CORONA-FIT!
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