1. Prepare the Night Before. This means get all your gear together. If you let this go to the morning, which I often do, it cuts into training time. I often break this rule because I'm too tired when I think of doing it the night before. Then I have to scramble in the morning.
2. Factor in Prep Time. If it takes 1 snooze (9 minutes) to get out of bed, 10 minutes to dress and 10 minutes to eat then get up 29 minutes before you need to start the workout. Factor in time for travelling to the workout, for cooling down and for stretching . Of course, I hit the snooze button 3 times, dress & eat in 10 minutes and then cut the workout short by 8 minutes.
3. Stay Disciplined. If I don't follow Rules 1 & 2 then I am not being disciplined. Guess what? I am not as disciplined as I should be. I can get up in the morning but it's never as early as it should be. That's true at least for Monday through Friday. The weekends are no problem. Usually, no problem, that is.
4. Just Do It. Even if you can't get out of bed on time, get out anyway even if you have to short the workout. I find it more mentally rewarding if I run for 35 minutes instead of the 45 minutes planned then if I blow it off entirely. Plus, if I do pass on doing it in the morning, I absolutely have to do it later in the day and then it hangs over my head. And that's worse.
5. Have a Plan. For long distance training, you have to have a plan. You have to know what you are doing the next day, every day and every week. My first two years training for Ironman, I used the Iron Fit plans, which worked great.
2 comments:
Great list of rules! I'm going to have to check out the Iron Fit plans! Thanks!
Yes, great rules, I strongly believe in 1 and 2. When I was training for my first marathon in Windsor summer heat, getting out at the door at 5:30 AM for a run was my routine. And it means having all the stuff ready so that you can just go. It is so easy to become lazy! I've notice that now that I don't have a plan!
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