Finding your groove - 2024


Let's say you're stuck in a rut and want to make some changes in your life. You want to get in better shape, finish a big race, or save up for a fancy trip. Whatever this new thing is, it's difficult to change a lifetime of habits and routines. You may need to wake up earlier, or go to bed earlier, or stop watching as much TV, or quit ordering out for dinner five nights a week. Whatever that change is, it will probably hurt!

Routines and habits give us comfort because they are familiar. New endeavors force us to change. Ideally these changes help us 'level up' our lives in meaningful and positive ways.

From the perspective of athletics, no one gets good without putting in the time and effort. Professional athletes make things look graceful and easy. But most of us only see their finished product. You're not watching the young man or woman who fell on their face thousands of times in practice and other competitions. You as a viewer in the stands or at home are looking at the shiny end-version of 10,000 hours of mastery.

Changing behavior and gaining new habits takes a lot of work and repetitions. It's not as simple as sticking with something for 3 weeks, or 30 days. It helps to have some sort of reward associated with the behavior change.

In our athletic training world, the rewards of a healthy body and the odds of living longer are great but hard to hold in your mind in the short term. Waking up early hurts. Working out is uncomfortable. Running in 90 degree weather is awful. And so on.

Finding some happy association with exercise is crucial. Hopefully you get to the point where you achieve some endorphin effect. Meeting up with and making new friends is a great social aspect of exercise. Seeing your abilities improve and positive changes also help.

You don't have to be a hero every day. Find a routine that makes sense with your life, and then commit to sticking with it. If you miss a day, don't miss the next one. Don't beat yourself up. It happens. Just move on.

It's really important to be a cheerleader and motivational speaker for yourself. It's easy to sink into negative self-talk and make excuses then use one failure to scrap the whole thing. It can be challenging to tell yourself you can do it! But you have to keep doing it. Every day. Most of the things we achieve in life we do by overcoming inertia; fear of failure; fear of rejection. You have to take that first step. Then keep stepping!

Marty Gaal, CSCS, is a USA Triathlon coach who lives in the Triangle area of North Carolina. Marty has been coaching endurance athletes since 2002. You can read more about OSB coaching services at www.osbmultisport.com.