Red January Part 3!
Helen
Week 3: Tag I’m in
I’ve been thinking a lot about what counts for Red January, and this makes me think about a phrase that has always stuck with me. If a job is worth doing, it is worth doing badly! Confirmation bias aside (another rabbit hole for later) this has really helped me; as someone who tends towards perfectionism and people pleasing, I get stuck in task paralysis and shame spirals. I can’t start anything in case it isn’t perfect or it doesn’t make everyone happy and then I can’t start because of the expectation and “it’s already late so now I can’t do it”.
This phrase has helped me be able to start something and give me the permission not to be perfect. So although I would like to do additional exercise than using the Seven App, this is perfectly acceptable and it doesn’t all have to be on strava! (if it's not on strava it doesn't count!)
So a quick recap; Day 8 Gymnastics, Day 9 Seven App and a walk, Day 10 Run, Day 11 Seven App and a walk (around the rugby pitch), Day 12 Run (while my boy is at football practice), Day 13 Pilates (Ouch my muscles ached the next day) and Day 14 Seven App and a walk.
So week 3 and day 15, the best day to start on, it’s gymnastics day! I love going to gymnastics, it is so much fun, I’m still not the best at it but it pushes me every week to have fun and to do something a little scary! I hope you enjoyed the videos, there’s plenty more of them!
I always ache after gymnastics so a rest day, with a walk on my lunch break and another while my boy is (you guessed it) at football training and some stretching before bed. Saturday; I’m still so tired so I was thinking a bit of yoga today but really struggling with motivation. I ended up on a walk to collect an item from facebook (portable jigsaw puzzle holder because I’m that rock n roll). None of which is recorded on strava.
Sunday Runday! Whether it is the dark mornings or just general tiredness but I’m finding getting up in the morning really hard. It wasn’t even that early, I went for a run at 8am so I could be back and showered before taking my boy to rugby (he smashed it!). Still chatting to my running bestie always helps with the motivation - one day we might share with you some of our random chat… I’m still trying to do zone 2 running, as I’m self diagnosed with long-covid and over the winter if I train too “hard” I seem to get chest pains and racing heart, so by trying to keep to zone 2 I find this helps. A lot of walking is required to keep the heart rate in zone 2. (Origin of our Run Walk Repeat design here!)
Monday I would normally go for a run while my boy is at football practice and Tuesday I would go to an exercise class. This week I did a 4hr car ride both days so I could fit in a business meeting. Lots of fun badass planning! Luckily Tuesday we went for a walk and on Monday I did a quick session of yoga before bed, the closest I have come to not achieving Red January.
Wednesday, I did four Seven sessions, I had a lot on my mind and a run would have been really useful but I procrastinated too long and ran out of time. Although I’m finding it hard to always fit even a small exercise session I know how much I enjoy them and it helps me. I always find a race helps keep me accountable and Red January has had the same effect.
Hopefully you enjoyed my ramblings but if you fancy a break from them one not write your own blog we would love to hear from you. What story do you have to tell; how did you meet your running bestie? Training for a big race / challenge? Have you overcome an injury?