{"id":3968,"date":"2015-11-05T08:28:39","date_gmt":"2015-11-05T13:28:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/elbowglitter.com\/blog\/?p=3968"},"modified":"2015-11-05T08:28:39","modified_gmt":"2015-11-05T13:28:39","slug":"if-its-not-fun-dont-do-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/elbowglitter.com\/blog\/2015\/11\/05\/if-its-not-fun-dont-do-it\/","title":{"rendered":"If It’s Not Fun, Don’t Do It"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
ClkerFreeVectorImages<\/a> \/ Pixabay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The other day, a coworker was asking me about my training plan.\u00a0 She’s a fairly experienced runner, so she’s familiar with challenging plans.\u00a0 I explained to her my run\/bike\/swim schedule and she looked at me and said<\/p>\n

“Why in the world would you do that?\u00a0 That sounds awful!”<\/p>\n

I didn’t understand her meaning.\u00a0 I don’t think my schedule is awful.\u00a0 It’s not easy, but it’s not horrifyingly challenging either.\u00a0 Turns out she runs 3-4 times a week, whereas I’m swim\/bike\/running 6 days a week.\u00a0 Fewer rest days for sure.<\/p>\n

But the thing is, I like it.\u00a0 I think triathlon is fun.\u00a0 I don’t always love every single workout, but as a whole, I do enjoy it.\u00a0 If I didn’t, why would I do it?<\/p>\n

And yet, so often, I think people do various physical activities because they think they have to, not because they want to.\u00a0 I’ve heard friends say “I hate running marathons, but I keep doing it.”<\/p>\n

WHY?\u00a0 Why do you keep doing it if you hate them?\u00a0 You can be a runner and not run marathons.\u00a0 I have no desire to run a marathon again anytime soon.\u00a0 I didn’t enjoy the training and I didn’t enjoy the racing.\u00a0 Maybe someday I will run one again, but I don’t see that day coming anytime soon.\u00a0 And it’s not because I can’t do it.\u00a0 I know I could train back up and now that I’m working with a coach, I know I could even PR (which wouldn’t take much).\u00a0 But I don’t want to, so I don’t have to.<\/p>\n

I see it with triathletes too.\u00a0 People think they have to go up to the next distance.\u00a0 Yes, I do have a 70.3 in my sights.\u00a0 But that’s because I want to do it.\u00a0 Do I see a 140.6 in my future?\u00a0 No way.\u00a0 I have zero interest in that.\u00a0 See above mentioned lack of desire to run a marathon.<\/p>\n

You should do things because you want to, not because you feel like you have to.\u00a0 If you’re not enjoying your training, change it up.\u00a0 That’s part of the reason I started doing triathlons. Running was okay, but I was getting sick of it.\u00a0 I don’t actually like running 4-5 days a week.\u00a0 But running interspersed with other activities?\u00a0 Not so bad.<\/p>\n

Of course, if you’re finding that you suddenly hate every training run, you might just be suffering a bit of burnout and need a rest. But if a week off doesn’t help, it might be time to rethink your goals.\u00a0 Even if you love the race, if you hate every single training day leading up to it, you should probably change something.\u00a0 Figure out a new goal.\u00a0 Maybe add in some cross training to see if you can find something else you love.<\/p>\n

Running is sort of the easy entrance into athletics.\u00a0 You just need some shoes.\u00a0 But there are lots of other ways to be active.\u00a0 Look into fitness classes.\u00a0 I have a number of friends who have fallen in love with Barre classes and spin classes.\u00a0 Another friend has taken up boxing, which I find insane and amazing.\u00a0 Maybe you love weight lifting.\u00a0 There are a lot of options.\u00a0 Just because you started out as a runner doesn’t mean you need to stay a runner.<\/p>\n

Find what you love and do that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The other day, a coworker was asking me about my training plan.\u00a0 She’s a fairly experienced runner, so she’s familiar with challenging plans.\u00a0 I explained to her my run\/bike\/swim schedule and she looked at me and said “Why in the world would you do that?\u00a0 That sounds awful!” I didn’t understand her meaning.\u00a0 I don’t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nIf It's Not Fun, Don't Do It - 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Though it helps that I'm writing it while eating Halloween candy and handing out candy to children.\u00a0 These kids better hurry up or there will be no candy left for them. Remember when I implied last month that October would be better? I lied. October\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fitness"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/elbowglitter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/img_0087-300x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5877,"url":"http:\/\/elbowglitter.com\/blog\/2017\/12\/04\/november-mileage-update\/","url_meta":{"origin":3968,"position":3},"title":"November Mileage Update","date":"December 4, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Who else is struggling with the fact that it's December?\u00a0 Just me? 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That's right.\u00a0 Through the end of the year.\u00a0 That seems like a lot of planning.\u00a0 But at some point, I'll have to start training for January's marathon, and I have another triathlon to train for later this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Running"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3607,"url":"http:\/\/elbowglitter.com\/blog\/2015\/05\/27\/wednesday-workout-recap-22\/","url_meta":{"origin":3968,"position":5},"title":"Wednesday Workout Recap","date":"May 27, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week could have been better.\u00a0 I have a race coming up! Monday - Missed my swim.\u00a0 My own fault.\u00a0 No excuses. 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