Friday Why I Tri

I really don't hate working out. I used to. I would worry so much about the next day's workout when I was training for my first Ironman that I couldn't sleep. And then I'd end up getting up at midnight or two a.m. and just do my workout so I didn't have to worry about it anymore, then finally get to sleep at 4 or 5. Not the best way to live life. I'm not sure that it even helped my fitness level.

For me, I need to enjoy working out. I think that many people need to have a daily workout routine in order to keep going. Some of them need to have a specific goal like a race and then a training plan that will help them get to that goal. I make training plans for people all the time, but I don't write training plans for myself. EVER. Because then I obsess over them and that's bad for me.

This is what I do: I wake up in the morning and I got downstairs and do what I feel like. Yeah, you might be surprised, but I always feel like exercising at one level or another. And there are some days when I feel like going hard. Maybe once a week. Maybe less often than that. When I say hard, I mean interval training like sprints or tempo training that mimics a race. Other than that, I don't tend to stress about my workouts.

I have one long workout each week, usually on a Saturday, but I try to make this enjoyable by getting myself flavors of gu I like and gatorade, other little treats for during and then a big treat for after. I also make sure I have plenty of TV viewing available. I also make sure that the goals I set are easily achievable on this day. Or I change them to something achievable as it goes along. I'm not an elite athlete, but I'm pretty darn good and I think this plan works.

I love racing. I love feeling good about my body and seeing what I can do. I hate the crash I feel after racing, but it's the price for the adrenaline high of the race itself. More and more, though, I think that people need to stop thinking of exercise as something they dread. It should be fun. It should be play. It WILL make you feel good while you do it, if you do it right. It will make you feel better physically afterward (though not necessarily immediately afterward.)

I also TRI because it is an entirely physical thing. I like that, having something in my life that isn't the same kind of mental challenge as everything else I do and have done well before now. I like it because I don't have to be the best. I can choose to race or not to race hard. And I like that when I am racing, I am so involved in it that the rest of my life fades away. Any worries I have about my books or my kids fade away while I am racing. I am allowed to be only Mette the triathlete instead of Mette the mom/writer/volunteer/financial planner/friend/wife. There is something cleansing about that.

If you need some motivation to get started, I started very small. I ran .1 mile on the treadmill the first day. One minute. I think you have one minute to try something and see how you feel afterward. If you're not ready to run, walk. Or bike. Or do yoga. Try it for one minute. I dare you. If you don't feel better after one minute, feel free to write me a nasty comment.