What I need most!

Friday, February 12, 2016 · Mike Davis

Good morning Great morning for a mug of hot coffee! What a great week so far for me and my never ending goal for better discipline with my running and strength training. Depending on whether Sunday counts toward the previous weeks running or this week, I have logged around 200 minutes of running. Combine that running with 2 great strength training sessions and I already have one of my best weeks going and there’s time left in the week to add on! While the workouts are great for me physically, the mental benefits are just as important to me. It can be so easy for me to succumb to this or that (excuses) or push off workout that ultimately never inevitably never happens. While the physical side definitely suffers, the lack of discipline tends to develop with each passing day. Right now when I am away from our No Finish Line Running groups it is easy to give in to cold dark mornings/nights, as well as other readily available excuses. Thankfully I have had some accountability through my wife and my daughter Jennifer. Jenn and I continue to train for the Vermont City marathon though we both realize our injuries might prevent us. Regardless we have a plan on the NFLR site that we are trying to follow and we also discuss our running frequently. Both those are super helpful when we are solo with only ourselves to motivate. Having a specific running plan developed solely for you and then having accountability along with it is really the best recipe for ultimate success. Grabbing a generic plan from the internet or a magazine that is designed for who knows who has little if any chance of success. Jennifer and I actually talk each week about how things are going and then we adjust our plan if needed or we just continue on. Kathy is also helping a great deal as when we are together we tend to get the other person in their running shoes when left to ourselves we may beg out. Case in point: Yesterday I made the trip to Pinehurst for the long weekend and after a 5 hour drive I could have easily settled in for the evening and relaxed. Kathy mentioned an easy run and while part of me really didn’t feel like it, another part of me thought a run would get me back on schedule for the week. We proceeded to discuss the current weather and then of course talked about pushing the run off till today (the tomorrow syndrome). When Kathy saw that today had snow in the forecast, I said let’s go run 45 to 50 minutes now and Kathy said 4 miles. I concurred and we quickly readied ourselves before we could change our minds and went off and ran a wonderful 4 miles! Kathy might say that I got us out there and I would counter by saying that she started the conversation. That is kind of how it works with us in general as one of us starts the conversation and the other helps to make it happen. Team work! Having a daughter and a wife that are runners as well as generally health conscience helps me a great deal. Independently I am very much a person that feels best when I am disciplined in all aspects of my life in general. That discipline I desire for my life tends to start with the discipline in my workouts. Not say I can’t have one without the other but, for me it all tends to feed off of my workouts. Life has been a bit upside down for me the past 18 months and it has been easy to let circumstances become excuses. I am hopefully back in a place mentally where those excuses are being set aside and discipline is winning out. Challenging schedules, lousy weather, less than feeling 100 percent physically and life in general will always be there to challenge me but, for me it comes down to discipline. I will enjoy a rest day today!  God Bless! Mike