Why do I run? Because I still can. Because there are others who cannot. Because I enjoy it.
I aim to prioritize life in my training sessions. My goal is not perfection. I leave that to the professional athletes who bank in millions annually. I recently read that John Arne Riise, a Liverpool great, only had his first taste of beer after retiring from football. He didn’t like it, so there was no loss to him. He had abstained from alcohol , not just beer because he felt that being a professional footballer he needed to be at the peak all the time, he felt that alcohol, even in moderation, would compromise his performance. I cannot, and no one should fault him his commitment. Respect. I however do not earn millions playing football or any sports. Why sacrifice life? If you enjoy a craft beer, by all means have a bottle of Stone Delicious IPA, just know your limits. If you love a steak, enjoy that too, fries with that steak, go for it. But know that you need to do a little more at training the next day. Or you can have a bottle of Stone Delicious IPA, a nice rare rib eye with fries as a reward for achieving that goal you set yourself. Why not?
If you love a rare steak. Why not?
My big picture training objective is to enjoy an active, healthy and stress reduced lifestyle. Active means to participate in and perform a variety of activities that stimulates the physical and the mental. Healthy means being physically fit and the absence of injury, illness and disease.
A stress reduced lifestyle is a consequence of being active and healthy.
Training must be enjoyable, it must not lead to injury, it must inspire you to do more, it must give you results.
- You want training to be enjoyable because nobody wants to do something they hate. You have a finite number of years on earth, you want to be sure that you maximise your enjoyment. Doing something enjoyable makes it meaningful to you.
- You want training not to injure you because, lets face it, being injured isn’t fun. Its painful too and downtime means less of doing the things you enjoy.
- You want training to inspire you to do more because, you want it to be self-sustaining. How can you do this? Do something you enjoy. If you enjoy cycling, cycle, if you enjoy running, run. I enjoy trail running now. Set manageable and progressive goals, achieving these goals will inspire you.
- You want training to give you results because, why do something without a goal? Set a goal which is manageable, achievable and measurable. Devise a training plan that will be enjoyable, sustainable and show results.
Set a manageable and achievable goal and work towards it
So, prioritize life, set a manageable and achievable goal, plan, train hard, achieve that goal. ENJOY LIFE