Get Fit Slowly

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Pam recently told me that Martha Stewart sometimes says, “Tidiness begets tidiness.” Last night, after the kids went to bed, we spent about 45 minutes cleaning up the house. Later on, I told Pam, “We made a good dent in the housework tonight, we should do that every night.” Maybe there’s something to Martha’s adage?

Recently, I’ve been having a pretty successful run of both losing weight and increasing my fitness levels. I was thrilled when I saw 195.x on the scale this past weekend, and then yesterday it read 194.5. I haven’t been tracking my calories, but I have been conscious of what I’ve been putting in my mouth. I haven’t yielded to Sonic’s siren song yet–maybe the desire will fade. Also, I’ve been doing really well with my exercise program. My mom’s visit made it really easy to get on the treadmill or head out to the gym. I’ve run 10.5 miles this week and it’s only Wednesday. On Monday night, I completed my first 5-miler since moving to Oregon. It was a lot harder than the 3.5 mile runs that my body is used to, but it’s nice to know that I can do it. I still plan on getting a run in today, and Friday or Saturday. 16.5 miles would be my biggest mileage week since I started working out regularly.

So, I’ve established that I’m doing pretty well these days and that I’m really motivated to keep it going. But what has changed in my mind over the last couple of weeks? I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and with a little bit of help from Pam, I’ve figured it out–fitness begets fitness.

In a recent post, J.D. threw down the gauntlet by telling me that he was going to run more than me in May. Also, in a phone call to Pam he told her something to the effect of “I’m totally going to beat Mac’s mileage next month.” Next to being fat, out of shape, and a bad example for my children, this multi-pronged attack from my ally, friend, and partner has motivated me more than anything I can think of. It’s motivated me so much that I’m even going to train for and run in my first organized race. And J.D. is going to run it with me!. I know running on the treadmill and running a race outside are totally different beasts. So one of my newest fitness goals is to get outside for my runs more often. And since J.D. has started his marathon running training on the weekends, it’s not going to be easy for me to beat his mileage for the month. To keep up with him, I either have to run every day, or I have to do some longer runs. I like my days off, so I’m going to do at least one long run of at least 5 miles every week.

There are lots of things that people use to motivate themselves. I recently found a decent article over at The Fitness Motivator that summed up the different ways that people get motivated:

Somewhere deep within, we each have some unique behavior triggers: things that inspire us. Do you workout more often when you’re expected to? If so, find a workout partner; sign-up for a running club; or join an intramural team. Use positive peer pressure to your advantage! Do goals and tasks keep you on track? Then go hang a sign up in your locker with your goal; register for an upcoming running race; or schedule a doctor’s appointment in the coming months to record your health progress. Over time your goals and dreams may change, so you may need to try a variety of fitness motivation methods to see what works best for you at that point in time.

One of the original goals that J.D. and I made when we agreed to work on this blog together was that we would help to motivate each other through our writings and research. I’m happy to say, that J.D.’s recent trash talking has succeeded in motivating me to work harder.

Competition is a funny thing. Up until now, I’ve been motivated to exercise because it keeps my weight down. But now, I’ve found a new motivation. I want to beat J.D.’s mileage totals and his time in our 10K race next month. So J.D., I hope you’re ready for what you’ve started. If you are, we’re going to be a couple of lean dudes!