Why I quit running this fall: Mental Health
If you can't push yourself to complete a workout, who else is going to? The truth is, if you're not enjoying getting up every day and fitting in your sweat sesh, something's probably wrong! Below, I'm sharing why quitting a goal this fall was good for my mental health.
This fall, I started training for a half marathon with my girlfriend as a way to hold myself accountable and to improve my running game. We started the first few weeks off pretty well, she really motivated me! #teamworkmakesthedreamwork My goal was to run the longest long-run on the schedule by December-I didn't have the $$ for this race in the budget and quite frankly I just wanted to run a long distance again.
'This is so boring' 'My body feels like it's made of bricks' 'When will this run be over?!' -Thoughts on my runs.
Unfortunately, I wasn't enjoying these simple 3 runs per week. They felt awful, my body was saying 'wtf is going on here' and although I had an accountability buddy, we wavered off from our workouts together and eventually waved goodbye to this goal. While my girlfriend was still valiently pushing on, I quit.
“it’s OK to change your mind.”
I've been drawn to my bike time & time again. I'm drawn to weights and dynamic workouts in a season where my brain needs outside of my job #DallasFitnessAmbassadors have been there for me too! Last week I shared all the reasons One Peloton has changed my life....it's OK to change your mind. You're doing this for yourself and only you can push yourself to get up every day and accomplish the thing!!!
I ask all of my #redefiningsuccess women this same question 'Is it ok to quit?' I think some responses have been more passive than I expected because I think we are afraid to say it's ok to quit-so here's what my answer would be. Hell YES It is OK to quit something that drives you crazy. Something that doesn't bring you >>> the same energy as you bring to it! <<< How is that fair to anyone?
This is not the same thing as giving up! Giving up is when you KNOW you can achieve something that you enjoy but something is holding you back from completing that goal.
Quitting is re-directing your attention from one thing to another. You should be able to apply this same principle to anything, be it a fitness goal or a job, or your latest hobby...at the end of the day, all that matters is how you measure your success and no one else. Get back to what makes you feel energized and stop throwing any thoughts or actions to anything else.
Now...go do something you love #balance
xoxo, with gratitude,
Ari