Ramblings on Strength, Motivation & Music

So what is on my mind this morning? If I would have had my  laptop with me in bed on Friday night, this blog post would be written, but for the life of me I can’t remember what the hell I thought was going on in my life worth writing about.  In spite of my last couple posts, I still have not completely settled on a race plan or a training schedule. I have been perusing the Ultra Sign Up website, which is a dangerous place to spend time.  It makes me think I can do all sorts of crazy things all over the United States. I think I will commit myself to a couple of races in the next couple of days.  Watch for that post midweek.

I did get some running in this week and continued with the strength work. I am a disciple of Eric Orton Cool Impossible and of Denny Krahe for strength exercises (You can check out my podcast debut with Denny here) . I know that I have to continue doing the strength training just as religiously as I do the running.  Not working on my strength will be what breaks me down and keeps me from reaching my goal.  And the thing I’ve realized this week, is that it really doesn’t take that much time to get some decent strength work in and you can do it anywhere. Drop and do 10 push-ups in the closet while I’m trying to figure out what to wear to work.  Do wall sits while the TV is on or while Chelsea tells me about her day. Planking for any amount of time is beneficial and can be done in the living room, the closet, the front yard, the back patio…really no reason not to do them. And who can’t spare 1 minute….or 2 or 10.  We all like to think we are so busy but we really waste a lot of time.  Now I’m not a fan of having a packed schedule and just being busy for the sake of being busy, but we are talking about running and life here.  Most of us have full time jobs – whether we like said job or not is for another post altogether – maybe you have a spouse/significant other, or maybe just a needy roommate.  You might have kids, dogs, cats, or farm animals. We all have dishes to wash and laundry to do and a floor that needs to be vacuumed at some time.  You might have a yard that needs mowed or a garage that needs cleaned out.  At some point you’ll have to buy groceries and check the mail, and if you don’t take advantage of autopay (and why wouldn’t you) you’ll have to pay some bills. Oh, then there’s friends that want to go bowling or to the movies or to the bar or just watch Netflix & chill. (couldn’t resist)

Here’s the kicker – we all have those things in our life, you’re not the only one. But how many hours do you spend watching television…be honest.  “Well, I just like to watch The Walking Dead.” But is that really the only hour of TV you watch?  If that really is the only hour of TV you’re watching, great…but I bet it’s not.  Should I dig up some of the research on television watching and how it correlates to weight gain and heart disease from being sedentary? But let’s not get too self righteous here – how much time do you spend scrolling through the social media of your choice on your telephone?  Ouch.  Way too much time probably.  And I bet you’re sitting on the couch or standing at the end of the bar in the kitchen (guilty as charged) while you’re Tweeting or Facebooking or Pinning. Not that there’s anything wrong with watching some television or using social media. But do you tell your friends and family that you’re just so busy or tell yourself that you don’t have enough time to do 10-30 minutes of strength work? Oh come on, be honest. Be be honest…be be honest…random song reference.

So enough making excuses and wasting time and justifying our laziness. One of my current favorite running songs is by Eminem. It starts like this:

‘Cause sometimes you just feel tired,
Feel weak, and when you feel weak, you feel like you wanna just give up.
But you gotta search within you, you gotta find that inner strength
And just pull that shit out of you and get that motivation to not give up
And not be a quitter, no matter how bad you wanna just fall flat on your face and collapse.

Get out of the chair, off of the couch or wherever you get comfortable.  Get uncomfortable. Get moving. Do something. Don’t sit there and watch life pass you by.

Thanks for reading…I’m going for a run now.