Wikipedia defines a habit as follows:
A habit (or wont) is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously.
I can tell you that I do not do much that is good subconsciously... except maybe breathe and complain, oh, wait, that is not good... well, I suppose I breathe subconsciously, except when I am running. Breathing while running is entirely conscious. I am forever conscious that I am not getting enough oxygen and that my breathing is heavier and heavier the longer and faster that I go - and less and less efficient, now that I think about it.
That same wikipedia page discusses habit formation in this way:
Habit formation is the process by which a behavior, through regular repetition, becomes automatic or habitual. This is modelled as an increase in automaticity with number of repetitions up to an asymptote. This process of habit formation can be slow. Lally et al. (2010) found the average time for participants to reach the asymptote of automaticity was 66 days with a range of 18–254 days.
BTW, a simplistic definition of asymptote is a line tending toward infinity.
This suggests that a habit could take up to 254 days to form... as few as 18 days and an average of 66 days.
I am sure there would be some complex mathematics involved to answer my next questions, but what if you do something for 64 days in a row and then skip the next 6 days? Do you have to start over? Is it necessary to perform this activity for 254 days without missing one day? Phew... I am getting tired just thinking about it.
I really don't know about any of that, but what I can say with some level of certainty, from my own experience is that it becomes easier to do whatever it is you are trying to do, the more you do it. To hopefully make that more clear, the more you do something, the easier it becomes to do. Is that a subconsciously occurring behavior? I am not so sure... but it is at least easier to do.
Getting started seems to be the most difficult thing for people, then after the excitement wears off the next most difficult thing appears to be continuing. I read a cartoon the other day that read: "Two days onto my diet and I am still not skinny!! This [stinks]!! (I changed part of the quote. This is a family blog).
From my perspective the most consistent aspect of my training appears to be the number of excuses that I have at any given time to allow me to not train when I should or as much or as long as I should or as hard as I should. Consistency is the key though, right?
There also appears to be a yin and a yang for everything.
The Yin and Yang are complete opposites, yet one cannot apparently exist without the other. They both must exist and are equal, creating a process of harmonization insuring a constant, dynamic balance of all things. There can be no darkness without light and conversely no light without darkness.
Balance has never really been one of my strong suits. My version of Yinyang has often been all or nothing. Does that qualify? This newest venture of mine has been somewhat humbling in that it is clear that there NEEDS to be some balance. Training full out, too hard, too fast will surely cause you injury and you will be sidelined. Race weight must be maintained as a balance and it must all happen gradually. Too much weight loss too quickly, even if you are still above your ideal race weight will cause you difficulty. Balance... patience... not too much, not too quickly, it takes time... blah, blah blah... I am certain that Freddie Mercury said it best when he wrote "I want it all, I want it all, I want it all, and I want it now." -- just my opinion.
Short excerpts from another blog: "Not all runners are created equal, but patience and time can go a long way." "The answer: patience and time." "the lesson should be about patience in your training."
"Be patient enough to understand how much just a tiny increase, even one as small as one mile per week every two months, could have on your training over the course of 8-10 years. Once you learn and fully appreciate this secret, the sky is the limit."
The above excerpts are from http://running.competitor.com/2014/07/training/the-secret-to-high-mileage-training_82973 if you are interested in the entirety of the blog.
Anyway, it has certainly become easier for me to go run a few miles. I went out running today and ran 3 miles with Noble. We kept a pretty good pace of 7:28 per mile average. We ran back to the house and I decided to go out for another 3 miles by myself. You may recall that prior to October I had never run more than 6 miles at one time. Now I can go out and run six miles pretty much whenever I want to. I still struggle at around the ten or eleven mile mark, but it is becoming easier. I can see the progress. The difficulty I am having now is understanding when to train harder and when I can expect gains and improvement and when I should rest and relax and recover. When I was a kid, there was no talk of rest or relax or recover. If you were sore, it meant you had worked hard. Now get back out there and work harder. I am afraid that if I were to do that now, then I would injure myself.
Over the Christmas break, from Dec 23 to Jan 1, I ran almost every day. I felt really pretty good too. My times were fairly fast and my distances were varied. Some long, some short, some moderate. When Jan 2 came, I was back at work and my time was not as free as when I was on vacation, but I thought it would be good to take a couple days off to rest my legs as my calves were hurting a bit. (As I mentioned, it seems easier to start a new bad habit than it is to continue a good habit). Well, as it turned out, I took most of the week off. I did not run again until Jan 6. I logged about 40 miles the week I was off and a mere 5.8 miles the week I got back. Today I ran a little over six miles and I have a race this coming Sunday... a week from today. My calves are still aching a bit, but I do not think that is going to hinder my race. But this balance and moderation thing stinks.
I have also put on some weight. I had apparently lost too much weigh too quickly. 31 pounds since August. Well, bad habits are easier (for me), I put back on 5 pounds in 2 weeks. The sad part is that I am hungrier, craving more food, craving more unhealthy foods, and... AND... I feel frumpy. I don't like to feel frumpy. I have a race this coming weekend, so I am not going to make any real changes in my diet from what I have been eating in the past two weeks, BUT... When I get back from this race in Tempe, Valerie and I are going to start eating from:
You can find it on Barnes and Noble or Amazon among other places
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/run-fast-eat-slow-shalane-flanagan/1123154457?ean=9781623366827&st=PLA&sid=NOK_DRS_NOOK+EBooks_00000000&2sid=Google_&sourceId=PLGoP25491&k_clickid=419x25491&utm_source=Google+PLA&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=&utm_campaign=NOOK+EBooks
https://www.amazon.com/Run-Fast-Eat-Slow-Nourishing/dp/162336681X
It looks like the initial setup will be difficult, and it will be more time consuming to prepare the meals some days, but also looks like it will help us to maintain a nutritious diet and find the appropriate competition weight without worrying about eating enough or eating too much. I am looking forward to it. I'll let ya know how it goes in Tempe.
My mom has decided to go with me to Tempe. I certainly don't mid the company... particularly someone that will be there to cheer me on instead of beating me to the finish line. LOL.
No comments:
Post a Comment