I am having a mental tug of war.
With a treadmill.
Two thirds of the battle? Moving it from the garage (where I never used it and never would) to the bedroom (where it doesn’t go with my decor or advance the calm, retreat-like vibe I am trying to create in there.) To my credit, I have not hung clothes on it.
The other third of the battle? Getting on it, of course. That requires mental games and goals for me. I am highly competitive, even with myself. I started out with 30 minutes and logged the distance I went. Each day, by the 30 minute mark, I had to have beaten the distance record from the day before, even if it was only by 1/100th of a mile. There was only one time I didn’t beat yesterday’s time. (I punished myself with another 5 minutes, and the next day I needed to improve on that.) I am mean.
Now that is fine and good for the first few weeks, but I need to change it up, because at the rate I am going, I will end up trying to run a 5 minute mile. I have old knees and joints. Why would I want to do that to myself.
I tried doing away with that race, and starting over with how far I can go at an incline. A tip: if you are over the age of 25, do not try to run on a hill. You will end up feeling like someone surgically shortened the muscles and tendons in the front of your legs.
I am now trying to do whatever the shuffle feature on my iPod tells me. I need to run to music, and the beat and rhythm of certain songs dictates my speed. I have a “Run” play list. If I get 4 songs in a row where I need to run fast, so be it. If I get nothing but “walking” songs, OK.
My pants are fitting better, but I am worried that I will win the tug of war. I want the treadmill to win. I need help. (oh on soooo many levels…)
Can any of you out there help me? Please give me some suggestions to keep motivated while on a treadmill, facing a wall, and thinking about all of the other things I should be doing…
My treadmill and I do battle all of the time. Unfortunately, it usually wins and I don’t get on it. However, when I do get on, I can watch TV! A great motivator is You Are What you Eat – on BBCA at 9:00 a.m. (if you have DirecTV).
Also, try the interval training thing. Walk for x time, run for x time (generally walk for 3 mins, run for 2, something like that). I’m sure there is information on the internet.
Then come motivate me to just get on the damn thing.
Thanks. The TV thing won’t work at all. It HAS to be music. I can’t even run with someone else. I literally have to hypnotize myself in order to make it through the run. I will tune into that show though.
For you? To get started, I told myself that I had to be on the treadmill by 11:00 a.m. Once I got back into a routine it became a bit easier. Good luck to both of us, yes? 🙂