Life is busy and before your know it – despite your well aspired hopes of working out your week can quickly pass you by. How do you stay committed to morning runs, weekly training and successfully preparing for your next race? I’ve found that setting out your day, week and monthly intentions can be a powerful tool in completing those training workouts. And let’s be honest, between working full time, school and everything in between, without setting those intentions – how will those training runs get done?
Here are 5 steps that have successfully helped me conquer a crazy marathon training week.
1. Lay out your clothes the night before.
This might sound like a basic step or even a little bit juvenile to pick out your outfit the night before – but t r u s t me, it does wonders! Lay out those bright new running shorts, your favorite shoes and get those workout tunes ready! I find placing them on the nightstand by my alarm clock works best – because then it’s the first thing I see when my alarm goes off bright and early. Might sound silly – but give it a try.
The laid out clothes works every time.
2. Pre-decide your workout of choice.
Nothing is worse than waking up to a blaring alarm, remembering, “I need to workout!?” only to realize, you have no idea what workout, which distance or cross training regimen you’re doing.
Don’t give your subconscious a way out – stay committed, focused and determined by setting your workout intentions the night before. Are you training for a race? – be intentional about each day and each distance. If you don’t have a mileage to run or distance to shoot for, be creative – research a new workout online or pre-decide the night before if you’ll make that killer spin-class at your gym. Whatever workout you choose, be sure to choose it the night before!
Without a goal, one can never stay inspired to conquer it. Give yourself that extra oomph and get inspired to achieve it.
3. Be a creature of habit.
Along with bright workout clothes and an intentional workout game plan, be sure to be a creature of habit. It is 100 x’s easier to stay on track when you intentionally carve out the consistent time to stay fit. Do you train best bright and early? Stick to those 6 am runs. Does your schedule allow for better training times after work – make those times count and go for it.
Whatever time slot works best, own it and carve time out for it. The worst thing you can do is say you’ll work out such and such times a week, but neglect to reserve them. Put it in your calendar if you must – highlight the appointment, set an alarm in your phone, but whatever you do – intentionally create a time slot habit.
4. Don’t forget why you started.
Each one of us has a story, a unique journey that has shaped us into our own personal love of fitness, healthy living and training. Remember that story. Never forget what spurred your passion on towards being your best, healthiest, most active self. Don’t forget how far you’ve come – use it to fuel your intentions for today’s workout, this week’s goal or next month’s challenges. If you have an inspiring mantra or quote you feel encouraged by, place that somewhere you’ll see frequently to spur on those workouts. Stay inspired.
5. Conquer those lists.
Something that has been a surefire way of completing my intentions is… to write them out first and to check them off once completed. Plus, it’s always fun looking back and seeing how far you’ve come – lists allow for a real-life tracking of training success. My dad once told me “you are 100 times more likely to complete a goal if you’ve written down” and I firmly believe this is true. How can you know if you’ve completed something if you’ve never aspired to achieve it in the first place? Be brave with your life, challenge yourself and set intentional, worthwhile goals to complete – both your blaring alarm clock, 6am tired-self and future race-day bod will thank you.
Whatever race you are training for or fitness goals you have, I hope this list inspired you to “Turn your intentions into actions.” <3 It is after all those who seek change that see it – be intentional with your life, workouts and training runs and you’ll reap the benefits.
