Just over a month ago I was running the LA Marathon and this COVID-19 thing was just starting to gain some speed. We were being told to use social distancing and we were seeing races being cancelled or postponed. We watched as Tokyo decided to run with only the elite runners. We waited with baited breath to see if LA Marathon was going to go as planned. Then the weekend came and we got to run the marathon. We were told to keep 6ft apart (like that was going to happen, have the been inside of the starting corral?), thousands of people showed up, the race was sold out. We saw less crowds and spectators out but that was pretty much it.
Within a week, the world we knew was far from gone. Every race from the on was being cancelled and postponed and stay-home orders went into effect. Gyms were ordered to close and life as we knew it was changed.
Here we are, after almost a month of quarantine and finding motivation to run or be active seems to be much harder to find. Sitting on the couch and watching Netflix has become the norm. There are no races to train for in the foreseeable future, no meets for my lifting friends, and finding something to train towards is like grasping at straws.
So they question is, where do we find our motivation again? How do we get back to training as best we can?
My answer is to just start a new routine, and schedule in the task. Remember, you don’t have to go all out. You may not have what you need to train at your best and you can train the best you can. If you don’t want to go out and do your long runs, start with having yourself start with 1 mile, maybe it is just a walk, or slow jog. Enjoy the air, some time out of your house, look at the surroundings and see what happens. What do you think would happen if you committed to doing 30minutes of exercise a day? Would it get easier? Yes, once you started to develop the routine it would be easier to get going. For me I start my day with exercise and it helps. If I wait until afternoon or evening it is far harder to get up and moving.
What routine are you going to start with? How are you going to stay accountable? Let me know if you need someone to encourage you to keep pushing yourself.
Fitness and Faith 