New Habits = New Experiences

The "Wake Up and Move" program is going well, although today is a "day off." I woke up. And I DID move, but I moved to the couch. I was joined by a furry friend who makes it tough to get up when he's resting on top of the blanket.

So I've spent this morning looking at plans and mapping my own. I created a Group for the Marine Corps Marathon on Garmin Connect to see if others are interested in some camaraderie as we train for this 26.2 mile tour around Washington DC. I read a couple blogs to get my head into the effort. I mapped programs, understanding the key is consistency (following Scott Partenheimer's approach over at ithoughttheysaidrum.blogspot.com/ who has kept his streak alive since sometime back in 2013). Consistency creates the habit, and the triggers for creating habits are very personal. For me, the concept of a streak works. Keeping the streak alive motivates me. And it also embeds the habit.  

Before focusing on time and strength and anything around results, my priority is to get the fitness habit back, and breaking any bad habits. And that means consistency. To quote the great Eric Thomas, think of it as you don't GOT to, you GET 

to go run. That means keeping my streak alive. From yesterday, focus on the process, not the product. THINKING before MOVING does me in, so once the alarm goes off, BAM, the feet need to hit the floor. If that doesn't happen, I get sidetracked and justify doing something OTHER than getting out the door. I thought, "But it's Sunday. I'm already a couple miles over my weekly plan. I got this. There's PLENTY of time today." That last point is a problem many of us have. We think there's PLENTY of time. The reality is the only time we have is right now. And if life is merely a series of habits and experiences, then what we're doing right now should either be an incredible experience, or a habit that'll take you to one of those experiences. 

So it's 10:52am on a Sunday. One pup is laying on my lap. The other is on the other side of the couch. And to change the energy in this room, all I need to ask is "Wanna go for a run?" and the tails go from zero to 60 in .25 seconds. Again, life is nothing more than a series of habits and experiences. So I need to make those habits intentional and make those experiences amazing. And those habits need to create those amazing experiences.

​Time to run.