Well, I did manage to hit the pool every weekday this week since I’ve decided to get stern with myself about the exercise.
I live in a relatively small town, but it was a bit of a surprise this morning to share a lane with my family doctor. I’m not sure if he recognized me1. I never would have pegged him as a swimmer. He seems more the runner type, but I suppose cross-training ain’t all that unusual.
I’m trying to decide if I should just stick to my original goal of swimming 900 yards every weekday this month, or if I should up the yardage. Since my original fitness goal was to swim at least four miles this month, I think I’m gonna just stick with the 900 yards deal. At 4500 yards a week, I’ll have swum considerably more than miles by the end of the month.
I’m noticing a problem I have with getting to goals, and I need to address it. I’ll go all hard core on a goal then burn out, rather than go slow and steady — looking to the long term. It’s why my goals for this year were relatively modest. I’m having to restrain myself from going hammer and tongs at the things that interest me. I have a good plan for the year and need to stick to the “slow and steady” version if I want to ensure I get there. I’m glad I wrote everything down, let me tell you. Having the original goal written down as a referent makes it a lot easier to say, “Woah, slow down there, Hoss. You’ll get there if you stick to it slow and steady.” I’m already finding great value in having that yearly goal, then breaking it down by month, week and day!
It’s so easy to get sidetracked. As I was swimming, I was trying to plan how to get my weights workout in. I started all these plans about spending hours in the gym, blah, blah, blah. As I was coming home, I started laughing at myself. Just sticking to the original plan will be fine. I don’t need to go harder. It’s even possible that I shouldn’t go harder. Accomplishing exactly what I set out to do for the year will be a good year enjoyed and well-spent.
1One does not chat in a swimming lane at 5:30 in the morning.