It has been awhile. And for this I am sorry. I see that people have been checking my page and nothing new from me - let me fill you in on a bit that has been happening with me lately.
I am learning, first hand, what it is like to have to have to slow down and not be in control. As a bunch of you know, I have been training for a half marathon that is planned for the end of May. I started training after Christmas with determination and excitement. I trained and trained and ended up with incredibly painful shin splints. My ankles hurt and I had shooting pain going up both my shins. I thought I was training smart, but it turns out my 30 year old body didn't like the volume or intensity I was training at.
When I run, I have ankle pronation (my ankles roll in and cause a 'flat foot' when I run). This screws with my alignment when I run and causes my shins to get the brunt of the pounding when I run. Sooooo, long story short - I had to side-line myself and rest. I tried cutting my training down, but the healing wasn't happening, so I completely stopped running. I went to the doctor for x-rays just to make sure I hadn't done serious damage with stress fractures, but there was none, which I am very thankful for!!
This was torture for me. Anyone who knows me knows that running is my favourite physical activity and to not be able to do it was incredibly frustrating for me.
I can say very happily that I am completely healed now, and am hopping back on that treadmill today. And once the sidewalks are free of ice, I will run outside. I cannot wait to run outside! I will go back with better insoles for my shoes, and with the mentality that I do not have to push myself so hard.
I have learned something through this experience this last month.
Do you ever put incredible pressure on yourself? Do you try to be perfect with your goals? I mean, it is good to push yourself more and more and strive for excellence in what you do. But do you try to be perfect and put pressure on yourself to be perfect? I pushed so hard that I hurt myself. And for what? To be perfect example to others around me? I have learned that I need to be realistic for myself.
The reason people fail in their fitness/weight loss goals is because they put an incredible pressure on themselves to be perfect. When they pop up not perfect, they say "screw it" and quit.
Healthy pressure is good. Pushing yourself is good. Trying your absolute best is good.
Forgiving yourself is good.
Re-focusing is good.
I am in the process of re-focusing again. This has been a mental process for me. I am a perfectionist when it comes to my exercise. I feel an incredible pressure to look the part of a trainer, which is sometimes the worst kind of pressure, but I want to be the best at everything I am doing now. And being new to the business, it's not realistic. I try my best at my studies and have gotten almost perfect scores. I want the outside to match the inside. Another reason I haven't posted up lately on this blog is that I have had a very very busy March with assignments. 11 assignments in total last month. This is crazy!!! But I feel like I am getting smarter and more knowledgeable.
But I need to be realistic.
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So this is my pledge for the month of April:
To remove the pressure and replace it with drive.
To remove the 'perfect' mentality and replace it with a strong motivation to push harder than I ever have before.
To remove the self criticism and replace it with contentment.
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What can you pledge today?
What things could you remove from your thoughts and replace with more positive outlooks?
It is the first day of April. Within the next few months (in Canada here anyway) it will be nice out and spirits will be lifted from this snowy winter we had.
What is your pledge for April?