How To Make Your Training Plan Stick

Recently I was talking with a writer from Runner’s World about finding more time to run. As we talked, the conversation evolved into planning more efficient workouts and building them into your weekly schedule, despite all of the activities fighting for your time.  The “just one more thing” syndrome can be deadly to a regular workout routine.  If you find yourself saying “just one more call, email or load of laundry before I go for that run, ride or swim” and then find that run, ride or swim never happens then this article is for you.  
 
These tips will help you stay on track, literally and figuratively, despite the daily challenges and distractions most of us face.

Coach Lynne’s Top 10 Tips on how to keep your training on track.

1. Set a race goal
If you sign up for a race and have that date on your calendar, you’re more apt to stick to your training program.  With no goal in mind, your morning workout time will be easier to skip (“it’s not like I’m running a 5k in a month!”) and instead get filled up with dozens of other activities.

2. Find a training partner or group
Find a friend or make a friend who has a similar schedule to yours.  Planning to meet someone at 6:00 in the morning, puts you both on the “I don’t want them to be standing out there alone” motivation train.  You won’t want to let them down and vice versa.  Two people’s motivation solved in one swoop.  It’s funny that we’re willing to let ourselves down by hitting the snooze button 20 times, but if you know someone is waiting for you in dark or the cold, you’ll be there.

3. Try waking up 30 minutes earlier
It might not seem like a lot of time, but if you give yourself 30 extra minutes in the morning, you could get in a quick run or do some core/strengthening exercises before breakfast and lunches need to be made.   Imagine, 30 minutes of uninterrupted time before the rest of the house arises.  My husband, a great exercise procrastinator if I ever met one, now has a 9-minute routine he does if he feels pressed for time, but doesn’t want to use that as an excuse to skip a workout.  He picks 4-5 exercises from squats with weights, pushups, jumping jacks, mountain climbers, etc and does them non-stop for nine minutes. It’s not a full workout, but it’s something!  If he can do it, you can too!

4. Fill your water bottles the night before
If you are planning a morning run or bike ride, fill up the water bottles the night before.  Your water will be chilled, which is always nice, and it’s one less thing you need to do before getting out the door.  While you’re at it, pick out your energy snacks too.

5. Keep your running shoes (and other gear) right by the door
Same as #4, keep your shoes by the door. There’s nothing worse than running around the house trying to your gear together.  With any luck, just as you’re scrounging around the house for your hat or sunglasses, the phone will ring and you’re workout window goes “out the window”.   The quicker you get out the door, the better your chances of getting out the door in the first place.

6. Share a babysitter with a training partner
Many people with young children might find it frivolous to hire a babysitter just so you can get in your workout.  Let’s think about this. You’ll pay for a sitter to watch your kids while you go out to dinner or the movies.  But, hiring a sitter so you can workout doesn’t make it on the list?  Hmmm. Well, here is a solution that might make it easier to justify. Find a babysitter that you can share with training partner.  It’s either at your house or your training partner’s house (or a nearby playground).  You get to have your training time with a friend and your childcare is covered.  The cost should be less. It’s a literally, “girls day out.”

7. Share childcare with a training partner
If no babysitters are available or finances are tight, try meeting a friend at a park or playground. You can do your workout for an hour or so while your friend watches the children.  Then, when you return, your friend gets her workout done.  It’s great behavior modeling for the children and they get an instant playdate. Everybody wins.

8. Get your family involved
This is one that got picked up in Runner’s World, just in case you missed it.
It’s one of my favorites. It’s fun to get your kids involved when you can.  Try this: Take a deck of cards. Have your child turn over the top card. If it’s an eight, then you have to do eight push-ups.  The next card is a King (all face cards are equal to a 10) and I do 10 sit-ups. Continue turning over the cards and going back and forth between push-ups and sit-ups until the deck is completed or I fall on my face; whichever comes first. To give yourself a break, take a 1 minute rest when an ace appears. Don’t be surprised if children join you, mine often do.

9. Take turns with your spouse/partner on the weekends
So much of the weekends are scheduled around the kids’ sports or classes.  Make sure to take an hour or so each day for yourself.  This might mean that your spouse watches the kids while you workout and then you switch.  Believe me, the whole family is better off if you each get a chance to work out.

10. Schedule your training window
You probably have family events scheduled like “date night” or “taco night” so why not “workout time?”  Figure out a time in your schedule where you can plan your “training window.”

I’ve always felt that we have so many competing priorities in our lives between family, work and the assorted things that just need to get done, that it is very easy to find yourself somewhere near the bottom of your “to do” list.  That’s assuming that you are even on your list to begin with.  So, make yourself a promise to put yourself higher on your list.  It doesn’t have to be first, but it shouldn’t be 9th either. I feel that the benefit you’ll feel from making your workouts part of your daily/weekly routine will have a broader impact on your mood, health and fitness level than you can imagine.

Some of the tips might seem obvious. You may have already thought of them so that puts you one step ahead of most people.  But, with people’s lives so full of activities, it’s important to understand what stops you from getting your workout done. Hopefully some of the tips will help you keep your training on track.
 
Do you have any ideas?

Have any other ideas on how to “Make Your Training Plan Stick?” Share them and we’ll post the right here!

Let’s Get Moving

When I moved from New York City to West Hartford over six years ago, I was thrilled to be out of Manhattan and living in a less urban environment. I was moving to a home on a lake where I envisioned rolling out of bed for a morning swim, grabbing my bike from the garage and donning my sneakers where I could immediately hit the road.  It was a triathlete’s dream.  The reality is that living here has far exceeded my expectations when it comes to my training life.

But recently I realized that while I train even more than while I was living in New York City, I MOVE much less.  In the course of my days in New York City, I walked two to three miles a day, without even noticing.  I don’t do that here. I could walk to the Stop & Shop, it’s only a little over a mile away, but I don’t.  I could walk to the pool for a swim, it’s less than a mile away, but I don’t. Why? Because “I don’t have time.”  At least that’s the story I’ve been telling myself for six years.  

Now, however, I’m starting to do a little re-writing.

This fall, two seemingly unrelated events occurred.  The first was that I had surgery in November.  I plan everything, so this surgery was planned at a convenient time for me, my family and mostly my training. It was the off-season; thus I could accept the amount of time off necessary to recover.  Maybe physically I could use the time off, but mentally I thought I would go crazy.  However, the surgery was necessary and I would, I kept telling myself, survive this downtime.

The second event was that I discovered a book called American Idle; A Journey Through Our Sedentary Culture.  While driving, I heard the author, Mary Collins, speak about her book and the experiences that led her to write it on NPR.  I was intrigued and inspired by her interview.  At a red light, I wrote down the name of the book and immediately contacted her once I got home and requested a review copy.  (FYI, she’s currently a professor of creative writing at Central Connecticut State University).

I decided to read the book as part of my recovery. American Idle chronicles how the American people have stopped incorporating movement in their lives. Our ancestors, the hunters and gatherers, had to move to get their next meal.  This could mean up to 4 miles a day on foot.  For most Americans to get their next meal they only have to get off of their couches and walk to the kitchen. It’s easy to see how many of the health issues in this country probably stem from our lower levels of activity.

But as Collins’ book points out, “personal responsibility only goes so far; lots of things out there that we feel we can’t control contribute to our biblical levels of slothfulness.  Studies show that something as simple as a bike path near a neighborhood can increase people’s activity levels as much as 25 percent.”

My surgery and the discovery of this book were the perfect storm.  As I read, I started to think about how I could incorporate regular movement into my daily life as well as for my eight-year-old daughter, Sofie.

Sofie is a fairly active girl.  She has physical education (called P.E.) at school 4 days a week. On nice days, she’ll grab her bike and go around the neighborhood, plus this year she’s on a swim team. I still fear that as school gets more challenging and the computer, Sony DS and her iPod compete for her free time, she might lose that desire to just play and be outside.  As a very active adult, I didn’t want to just model healthy behavior, I wanted to create a situation where she could start to lay the groundwork for a healthy lifestyle that she would carry into adulthood.  Was this asking too much?

Collins points out that “with each succeeding generation, children spend less time in gardens, around streams, in woodlands…The rise in organized sports, with its emphasis on structured activities, coincided with the rise in obesity, as people became less and less at home with free play and other spontaneous movement.”

I realized that as fit and healthy as I am, what good would it be if my children were to become yet another statistic?

So I came up with a plan.  Sofie’s piano lesson is 1.2 miles away from our house.  We could give ourselves 30 minutes to get there.  We would wear headlamps and bike lights on our way home since once it got darker.

Now I still had to convince Sofie that this was a good idea.  Surprisingly, she agreed, with no argument.  On our first day, she walked a bit slowly.  She told me she couldn’t go any faster.  I told her if she didn’t pick it up, we’d be late.  We eventually got there and she was elated and proud when we arrived. We have walked every week for the past five weeks and her pace has picked up quite a bit.  This past Monday, it was a little rainy out. I told her we could drive and she said, “We have raincoats and rain boots, we can still walk. PLEASE??”  So we put on our rain gear and walked.

A side benefit of this healthy movement is the bonding time.  I was so focused on getting regular movement into our lives that I had no idea how much we would love just being together – outside – exploring.  We now walk to piano and swimming — three days of walking. As the weather gets colder, I’m breaking out the hats and gloves. Sofie is completely on board.

It’s been nearly two weeks since my surgery and my body is recovering nicely.  I have yet to swim, bike or run, but I feel great. Not including my walks with Sofie, I have walked every day for nearly an hour at a time. I never wear a heart rate monitor and I never know exactly how far I’ve gone.  For a data-driven, heart rate monitor-, gps-wearing, athlete this is revolutionary. These past two weeks have been life-changing for me.

I delayed this surgery for nearly three years for many reasons. Mostly, I didn’t think I’d be able to survive the time off.  I have not only survived, I have thrived.  I truly believe that getting outside, whatever the weather, has helped me heal faster both physically and mentally.

Mary Collins’ book has opened my eyes about what it means to move and connect with the world around us.  Thanks to her, I am connecting with my daughter in ways I never thought possible.  We both view our walks as adventures and our relationship is much better for it.

I felt the need to tell this story because as a coach I am always pushing my athletes to go faster and get stronger.  I now know that there are other ways to stay healthy and fit. It doesn’t all have to be so focused on “the workout.” Finding enjoyment in any kind of activity has a value as well.

I do plan on resuming my triathlon training when my body is ready. I also know that my walks will continue. Time is always an issue when it comes to prioritizing our daily lives, but it’s worth re-evaluating how we move throughout the day and in our lives. Here are two suggestions:

1.    Figure out where you can find 15-20 minutes a day to go for a walk.  It might mean a few less minutes on the computer or leaving the dishes in the sink.  Try taking a walk during your lunch break and eating a light lunch at your desk.  When shopping, park at the outskirts of the mall.
2.    Pick up a copy of Mary Collins’ book, American Idle.  Read about her fascinating story and transformation.  Learn about what has contributed to the vast sedentary lifestyle of over 65% of Americans.  Collins also suggests ideas on how we can change your own behavior as well as open your eyes to the obstacles we all face and how we might be all be able to be part of the movement movement.

I know that triathlons – both training and coaching for them – have changed and enhanced my life. But, movement for the sake of movement, without a transition or a finish line has also had a profound impact.  Yes, walking is almost like breathing, something many of us take for granted. But, this experience of re-learning how and why I move has re-energized me as I head into the new year.