Let the Minimum be the Maximum
Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2011 12:45 pm
I worked out every day this week. What my commitment is to, because I will DO it, is to swim a half an hour every morning.
Now ever summer, my gym runs a fifty mile challenge. This means if you swim fifty miles over four months, you've done the challenge.
To give you an idea of what that would take, you'd have to swim about 3/4 of a mile every weekday. (Conversions: Distance in swimming is about a quarter of land distance. Swimming a mile is about like running four.)
Right now, I'm pretty unfit. It takes me a half an hour to swim 900 yards (that's approximately a half a mile in swimmer distance).
I got to thinking about training for starting the fifty mile challenge in May and how I could work really hard and I probably could get to the point where I could swim 3/4 of a mile in half and hour and....
I stopped. No. I'm notorious for going hammer and tongs at a workout program, then burning out and stopping.
So...
My exercise is to swim for half an hour every N day. If I absolutely CAN'T get to a pool in the morning, which is rare, a half hour walk is an okay substitute, but that's practically at S-day levels of rarity. I am not allowed to push hard to go faster and get up to speed to do that fifty mile challenge. In fact, this summer, I am not allowed to do that fifty mile challenge. I am to swim a half an hour every day. Period. If I get faster, cool. And I will, to be honest. You DO get more fit as you work out, and as a technical sport, you get more efficient and faster the more you practice. But I am NOT to push for it. I'm to swim laps for half an hour. I'm not to go over time just because I'm feeling macho, either.
I am LOUSY at letting the minimum be the maximum. I am garbage at moderation. I constantly want to tweak and improve until I've "improved" so much I'm sick of something. Dandy, but as Glass Ceiling has proved, being very strict about moderation HAS worked for me and solved a problem. In fact, so has No-S. No, I'm not thin. But I'm not overeating or fooling myself about what I eat. So, exercise. This is going to be the hardest, I think, as I used to do a lot of martial arts competitions as a youngester.
I've failed at this before. I'm even having to be stern with myself about not tweaking No-S to set myself up for failure.
So, here's to Extreme Moderation. I like phrase because I can channel my desire for INTENSITY into the being intense about being moderate. LOL.
Now ever summer, my gym runs a fifty mile challenge. This means if you swim fifty miles over four months, you've done the challenge.
To give you an idea of what that would take, you'd have to swim about 3/4 of a mile every weekday. (Conversions: Distance in swimming is about a quarter of land distance. Swimming a mile is about like running four.)
Right now, I'm pretty unfit. It takes me a half an hour to swim 900 yards (that's approximately a half a mile in swimmer distance).
I got to thinking about training for starting the fifty mile challenge in May and how I could work really hard and I probably could get to the point where I could swim 3/4 of a mile in half and hour and....
I stopped. No. I'm notorious for going hammer and tongs at a workout program, then burning out and stopping.
So...
My exercise is to swim for half an hour every N day. If I absolutely CAN'T get to a pool in the morning, which is rare, a half hour walk is an okay substitute, but that's practically at S-day levels of rarity. I am not allowed to push hard to go faster and get up to speed to do that fifty mile challenge. In fact, this summer, I am not allowed to do that fifty mile challenge. I am to swim a half an hour every day. Period. If I get faster, cool. And I will, to be honest. You DO get more fit as you work out, and as a technical sport, you get more efficient and faster the more you practice. But I am NOT to push for it. I'm to swim laps for half an hour. I'm not to go over time just because I'm feeling macho, either.
I am LOUSY at letting the minimum be the maximum. I am garbage at moderation. I constantly want to tweak and improve until I've "improved" so much I'm sick of something. Dandy, but as Glass Ceiling has proved, being very strict about moderation HAS worked for me and solved a problem. In fact, so has No-S. No, I'm not thin. But I'm not overeating or fooling myself about what I eat. So, exercise. This is going to be the hardest, I think, as I used to do a lot of martial arts competitions as a youngester.
I've failed at this before. I'm even having to be stern with myself about not tweaking No-S to set myself up for failure.
So, here's to Extreme Moderation. I like phrase because I can channel my desire for INTENSITY into the being intense about being moderate. LOL.