Actually, not being fit can be an advantage to a new athlete. A 10-minute workout can beat up an unfit individual and can give the same satisfaction of an hour-long hard workout by someone in shape. What an efficient use of time!
To become an athlete, you need to find your sport. Individual sports such as swimming, biking, canoeing, x-country skiing, walking and running are all good options. (Team sports can accomplish this but the chances of success go way down. In team sports ability becomes important, not so in individual sports, you are your own yardstick!) Consider the convenience of each individual sport. You can't really bike in winter; bikes can be expensive and unfortunately the better the bike the more competitive you will be, until you get a flat, or crash. Hauling the bike around and tweaking the gears and tires is also a draw back. Swimming is the least equipment oriented, but least convenient sport. You need a pool or lake between 75 and 80 degrees. Driving to a pool and the hours it's open are a major inconvenience, not to mention getting a lane or sharing one. Going back and forth in a box full of water while looking at that stripe on the bottom gets old quick. Not to mention, all goggles leak! Yes there are good points to these sports but we wont dwell on them here. Did I mention I own a running store?
The answer? Become a runner. Running is a sport you can dress for any day of the year and equipment is minimal, good shoes and some lightweight clothing. You can head out the door at lunch or at midnight and prep time is just about zero! The sport travels well. When business takes you on the road, your running stuff only takes up a square foot of your carry on. A quick run during a long airport layover or a romp around the hotel fits in well. The lunchtime run clears the head and revitalizes your day making you a more productive, energetic employee. Can you get injured running? You bet! Can you also reduce your risk of heart disease, raise your metabolism, loose weight, gain self-confidence and up your self esteem! Life is a balance between risk and reward.
Two things you should do to insure success in your new athletic career are, keeping a log and racing. Racing! Don't get scarred off by the word, racing can just be competing against your self. When you try to run the 2 mile loop you run from home in your fastest time you ever have, we're talking racing. Racing is great motivation. Filling out an entry form and lining up with a bunch of other runners only accentuates this motivation.
Keeping a log can be the most important weapon in athletic arsenal. Simple numbers in a log can be tremendous motivation. The log is essential for success. Consider this scenario, with and without a log. You had promised yourself you would get in a run sometime today but family situations kept getting in your way. It is a dark, rainy Sunday night. You can finally go get for the run but youre tired and the depressing weather has you thinking about the couch. Getting out the door tonight will not be easy. You pick up your running log and start to admire your streak of consistency. You have run at least 4 days each week for the past 19 weeks. A run tonight will make it 20 weeks straight a personal record. You have run long on each run this week and up until today it has been a quite successful run week. You realize that if you could somehow manage to get in 6 miles tonight, it will give you a total of 23 miles for the week, the most miles you have ever ran in a week. Another personal record you could record in the record section of your log. You dress quickly and head out the door. You hammer down the walk feeling proud of yourself for being so disciplined on such an awful night. You are running a fast pace around your old familiar 6-mile route. Your best time ever on this loop had been 54 minutes; at the 3-mile mark you check your watch and realize you are a minute ahead of that pace! You bear down and finish the run in a new personal record time. Back home you jump into a hot shower with a well-deserved cold beer, celebrating your new personal records!
When you first start keeping your log, log everything. Your weight, resting heart rate, miles, pace, how you felt, the weather, the course, any run partners etc. It will take a while to find out which types of information motivate you personally. After a few months, you can discontinue logging the information you find useless. I personally am motivated most by total weekly mileage. (Total yearly mileage helps gets me out the door in December!) I also like to look back at my log and recall the places Ive ran, especially when traveling. My log has become a bit of a diary of my life. Keep a page of all personal records and streaks. Streaks are numbers like the most days you have ever ran in a row with out a day off or the number of weeks in a row you have not been below 20 total miles. Streaks are also personal records (P.R.s), just different than your fastest times over a certain distance, course or race.
After I turned 40 I started a new list of masters personal records! The old records are great memories; the new ones keep me hungry. Now that I am no longer winning many awards or running as many races, my 25 years of logs have become more precious to me than ever. Start your log today, you wont be disappointed.
Now, get out and run, Ill be asking to see your log!
Randy Step, an admitted obsessed runner.
