What They Don’t Tell You
Experts say it takes 21 days to create a habit. Three weeks is a long time, but not quite long enough to build the habit I am looking to build. This habit goes beyond just flossing my teeth every morning or meal prepping every Sunday. This is an intentional habit that needs to be deeply ingrained in me for a permanent lifestyle change. A commitment to running.
There is a part of me that hates saying that. I never thought of myself as a runner. I still don’t even though I conquered a half marathon 18 months ago. I despise running. I would literally rather be doing anything else. I’m slow. I get bored. I have a myriad of issues with my muscles. It gets in the way of pole training. It’s hard to schedule into my crazy travel schedule.
And for all of those reasons, that is why I’m continuing this commitment to myself. If you go back to my January post New Year, New Goals, it gives a glimpse into why I chose to do this in the first place. Mental stamina. Well Rach, you got what you asked for, except now this mental stamina extends past the run itself. It’s a full on immersive experience.
Guys, I haven’t even gotten past the short runs. Literally all I’ve been doing in January and February is getting about 2-3 hours of running in per week. That’s nothing in comparison to what I have ahead of me. I don’t want to seem like I am complaining because I am grateful my body is able and healthy enough to embark on this journey.
If you read all the running blogs, they talk about the right shoes, the right pace, the right running form, finding a running group, preventing shin splints, etc. What they don’t tell you are how you are going to have to take into account so much more. I don’t know what these runners do for work or what their health conditions are, but these are huge parts to my journey so far. So, all that being said, here’s what I have learned so far with my corporate life balance in mind:
Planning your runs is more important than the run itself
Experts also say that 80% of follow through happens in the planning phases of your goals. Read that again and let it sink in. Only 20% of accomplishing a goal has to do with dedication to execution. I travel at minimum once a month for work. Between projects, conferences & tradeshows, speaking engagements, and critical sales calls, this is my reality. I look at my week and my month and plan runs into this crazy travel schedule and do what I can to get the time in.
Sometimes it just isn’t going to happen and I have to be OK with that. I built enough cushion time into this goal knowing what my life actually looks like. This means running on days I normally would rest. This means planning my flights around a travel schedule conducive to my running schedule. This also means skipping out on that happy hour with my team to either: a) get up early and run the next morning or b) run that evening. The mental stamina extends to this type of discipline and I am here for it.
Account for your body’s additional needs
I have realized I need to be super careful on what I put in my body and when. Aside from the energy needed to complete these runs, I need to factor in a rather unfortunate genetic condition. I’m thankful I have such an amazing GI doctor. I went in for a double scope in early 2018 and I am one of the lucky ones. I had precancerous cells living in my colon and if I would have ignored my subtle symptoms, I might not be typing this today. PSA: Get your guts checked, people!
From the other end of that scope, I learned that I have acid reflux. My acid reflux does not like running this frequently. I take daily medication to reduce the acid production in my stomach so I don’t cause lasting damage on my esophagus. What makes this challenging is the logistics: I have to wait one hour after I take my medication in order to eat; I need to eat before I run; and I need to wait an hour after eating before I run (otherwise I just get it coming up the back of my throat). Morning runs during the week are not ideal because it means factoring in the two hours ahead of running, plus the run, plus getting ready for work. That’s a total of almost four hours before I leave for work, and work is about an hour and fifteen minutes away. I try to stick to evening runs for this reason.
Running on an empty stomach (especially with wintertime sinus drainage) just makes the reflux worse, so something in my stomach is a must. For evening runs, I have to plan my afternoon snack times about an hour or so from my run. This means I’m definitely eating during the 3:00 or 4:00 meeting you called. While munching away might be a bit taboo, I’m not doing it to be rude, I’m doing it because I’ve started prioritizing my body’s needs. We should all vow to be more transparent about our needs especially during what feels like a marathon of conference calls some days. Promise me you’ll do better.
Recovery doesn’t just mean rest days
I spend equal time (if not more) recovering from my runs. This is one that shouldn’t have surprised me, but my most used phrase lately is: common sense is not always common practice. With incorporating just 2-3 hours of running per week into my life with the right form, I have already started seeing significant changes in the muscles that I was neglecting in my training during the half marathon. A good foam roller is my best friend these days. We spend long nights on the floor working it out reeeallllll good. I feel like passing time while rolling is almost as difficult as the run itself some days. I found a decent way to pass the time is watching a show or listening to a podcast. I have to set a timer since I get distracted and forget how long I’ve spent on certain muscle groups.
I have also learned as of yesterday that I have a really angry piriformis muscle. This is a muscle that sits under your big glute muscles that runs more sideways than up and down. It keeps messing with my outward rotation at my hip joint and makes it unbearable to walk some days. Now that I know this, there are two adjustments that I need to make in my recovery process: stand more and stretch more… in addition to the extensive rolling that I am doing.
Stretching has never been a problem for me since I actually enjoy that, so now it’s time to intentionally add that to the to-do list. However, to my other sedentary workers out there, if you’re looking to run a marathon, or even just pick up running as a healthy habit, make sure you get up and walk around frequently. Going from 0 to 100 might not be bad, but going from 100 back to 0 is not doing my body any favors. As my muscles are trying to repair themselves, they are stuck in the seated position which does not help in the recovery process. I am committing to rule of getting up every 50 minutes even more now that I know this is part of a larger issue.
I don’t plan on devoting a ton of my posts to my marathon training, but the more I try to integrate this training into my personal life, the more I feel like it significantly impacts my professional life. I really want this to give you perspective that your personal endeavors can be shared and should be shared with your professional colleagues so we can all be a bit more transparent with each other. Whether it comes down to munching on a phone call, walking around the office like a nutcase, or some other seemingly random habit, I support you. Listen to your body and make sure you crush that goal!
