When I signed up to do the whole 50 mile swim, I didn’t think anything of it. I swim a specific yardage three times a week without really being too concerned about it. Habit.
When your name is on a bulletin board and there’s a mileage increment chart where you’ll be getting a marker when you reach a certain number of miles, it puts it into another perspective.
There are people who’ve already swum 10 miles since this started on May 1. I’m so nuts I actually considered trying to swim a mile every single day.
The thing is, that’s absurd. My workout routine of swimming three days a week and lifting three days a week works out fine. I don’t need to add more just because I’m feeling competitive. I might quit or get discouraged. Quitting bad. Working out good. I only “win” if I keep the workout habit.
Certainly I could choose to make swimming my sole workout. But I really don’t want to. I like lifting, want to continue with it and don’t want to devote more time to working out than I already do. Yes, the option’s there, but I don’t want to.
Not “I can’t” or “I shouldn’t” or “I have to…” That’s it’s just a choice with no big moral attachment to it feels really good.