So I bet most of you think I’m one of those rare breeds that never dreads a workout, right?
<waits while you nod your head in agreement.>
Wellllll, guess what? I don’t always jump for joy when it’s time to workout.
…99% of the time, yes. But there is that sneaky little 1% that comes out at the most inopportune times ever.
Like last night. After I spent all day trying to rest up, shake off this sniffly thing I got going on (#notsicknotsicknotsick), before gearing up for a rundate with the hubs after work. The clock ticked closer and closer to rundate time and as we got nearer and nearer to that time, my motivation mojo was slinking in the shadows.
This after spending a good 15 minutes bargaining with the hubs who wanted me to skip the run entirely to begin with. We ended up compromising — originally we planned to run outside, but after our little “debate”, I agreed to revert to the treadmill just in case I wound up feeling icky partway through the run and needed to cut the run short. (plus it would give Scott time to fit in a strength workout since he missed one yesterday). Seemed like a win-win (even for this treadmill-hater).
While I battled around in my head, desperately searching for my motivation mojo, I suddenly remembered a blog post I’d read earlier in the day from Lisa (an awesome blogger if you haven’t checked her out yet). She touched on how exercise is her “drug of choice” — that it’s something she not only craves, but it’s something that makes her feel good both while doing it and afterwards. She doesn’t like how her body feels on days she’s less active than normal.
And you know what?
…I have to agree. 100%.
I spent most of yesterday barely active at all — spending a ton of time on the computer and on the phone for work, and little to no time for me. Being my normal active energetic self. Figuring the least amount of exertion pre-run was probably a good thing. But instead — it totally worked against me. I felt lethargic and blah. Not from the sniffly thing I’m battling, but from the sheer lack of activity. I love my body on “active.” I feel my best then. No wonder my motivation mojo was in hiding. Sheesh. I hadn’t given it any real reason to come out to begin with!
So that brings me to last night’s run.
…on the treadmill.
It wasn’t so bad afterall. <phew> Granted, I was stopping for water pretty often thanks to good ‘ol dry mouth from having a stuffed up nose, but, it wasn’t terrible either. I went slow and steady for just over 5 miles and called it quits at that. Was tempted to push for 6 but the smarter side of me (i.e. my husband over my shoulder!) told me to stop while I was ahead.
So 5 miles all done — good by me, snuffly and all!
#PROOF!
So I guess the moral of this little story is twofold.
…Even I have moments where motivation is hard to come by, and that’s when I dig really deep, focusing on just gettin’ ‘er done (doesn’t have to be pretty)
…Activity is an excellent “drug of choice” (to borrow Lisa’s term for it!), when done in good balance, as usual.
Now — go on. Your turn.
Get ‘er done!
EatDrinkBreatheSweat 
**trots off to do the workout she’d wanted to skip…**
LOL you are a riot, I love it!
Get ‘er done!!
Great Job Jess!!! 1% of the time is not too bad of a percentage. keep up the great work 🙂
Haha, thank you! Yes indeed – 1% motivation-less isn’t too shabby, I’d agree with that 🙂
You had me at gettin ‘er done!! That’s what its all about. My lazy butt is tired but I’ll get a run in at noon come hell or high water (which, judging by the clouds, is pretty likely)
Get ‘er DONE at noon today — and report back, I want to hear all about it! 🙂
roger that
way to go girl! i powered through a stuffy nosed workout on sunday.
the sweat felt good didn’t it? that was the best part for me – getting a nice good sweat in, I felt so much more human after!
As much as I complain about it, I feel completely off and not right when I don’t work out 4-5 days out of the week. For me, it’s much more than 1% that I don’t want to do it, though. It’s probably like 40% of the time! But I always feel better when I do and I never regret it, unlike if I skip it.
Exactly — even if you bitch and moan about it for a bit, you invariably wind up feeling WAY better than if you hit snooze and skipped the workout (if I ever do that, I end up driving myself nuts after whining about why I DIDN’T workout, it’s a vicious cycle, haha).
Good job my dear – and love that Scott gave you similar advice that Jason gave me about stopping just in time 😉 And I agree – I’m definitely not always eager beaver ready to jump into a workout. I drag my feet, think of excuses, but in the end, I know I’ll feel so much better for getting it done.
I think Scott and Jason are cut from the same cloth – I mean, they married US afterall, right? haha.
But yes – in the end I always feel WAY WAY better after getting it done. No matter what.
Nicely done sis! I am glad you waited till later in the day to do this too, so you could clear your head a bit of congestion and also have Scott tell you to dreadmill it. Smart! So you could stop when it got too much and did juuust right.asslap.
I’m glad too — I’m so stuffy first thing in the morning but once the day drones on, I wind up feeling much more clear-headed which helps a ton! And yes, I figured you’d be happy that I listened to Scott and quit at 5 while I was ahead. 😉
Way to go!! I went out to dinner with friends last night and instead of coming home and sitting on the couch I jumped on the treadmill. So glad I did (even though I wanted to skip it so badly)!!
Wow – THAT is motivation right there. Even I don’t think I’d get on the dreadmill after dinner with friends. You are a rockstar!!
Love the honesty behind this post! Great job getting it done! How do you feel today?
I got my mini-workout in at PT this morning, but that’s nothing compared to the wicked awesome hour of hot yoga I have in store for later tonight!
I’m feeling much better today – still all stuffy but less “meh” and lethargic than yesterday which leads me to believe I’m on the mend, woohoo! 🙂
Ohh hot yoga – enjoy it!!
Wow, only 1%? That’s a good percentage. I’m glad you got your workout in!
Ha, yup – some days it may be more like 2 or 3% though, I won’t lie 😉
Thanks for the mention, my dear. It is so true that exercise is mainlining happiness and energy (and motivation to do more)!
I tell myself two things to get myself going on days when I’m dreading it…
1. Do it Not Wanting to! (my mom used to say that when I’d whine about cleaning my room, etc.)
2. No one ever regrets a workout when it’s done!
Yay for Exercise as a Drug!
You’re welcome my dear — I loved your post so much, I had to mention it! Plus it included those ridiculous looking pb&J cups too. hehe 😉
I absolutely agree – nobody EVER regrets a workout, ever ever ever.
That’s funny. I’m a 1% kind of person too. I remember once my mom asked me if I ever get tired or working out or just don’t want to do it. She was shocked when I told her that it happens. She was more shocked when I said sometimes I’d rather lay on the couch! Once you get moving though…you never regret it!
Ha love that your mom was shocked when you admitted that sometimes you’d rather lay on the couch (even though you don’t skip the gym to do so!!). It’s the getting moving part that can be tough, but once you’re into it, you’re golden and then it’s ALLLLLL worth it!
I hate to admit how often I DON’T want to train, but I’m proud of how often I do it in spite of that (close to 100%). And I almost always feel better about myself after the workouts I don’t want to do than I do about myself on the days I DO want to train.
Oh I’m with you – there are definitely days where I do NOT want to train. AT. ALL. But that’s when digging deep and just going for it always proves that the effort to get out there was MORE than worth it. Always.
yaaaa there are definitely days that working out or running sounds awful. some days if i am really not feelin it, i skip it…but most days as long as i can get my clothes on (which hopefully i can haha) then ill get myself out the door. i try to remind myself that i never regret a workout!
Right – there ARE cases where getting the workout in vs. either skipping it entirely or postponing it is a better option than trying to power through and having a crappy workout or logging junk miles. So I definitely agree with you there. But other timees – as long as you get out that door, that’s half the battle!