I used to be pretty athletic when I was younger and played a few sports in high school. Then I went to college, gained a bunch of weight and before I knew it I'd become an overweight, inactive drone who sits behind a desk all day. I was not athletic, I was stressed out, and I was disappointed in how I looked and felt. Last year, I decided I needed to change. I saw the infomercials and I did my research (as any geek would do) and I ordered P90X.
It is easily one of the best decisions of my life.
I told myself that I would commit to 90 days to see what would happen. I convinced myself that if I did the workouts, ate the right food and followed the program, no matter what, I would get some kind of results and I could decide to continue or stop at that point. The decision to commit to that first 90 days changed my life and I haven't looked back. It's been almost a year now, and I have gotten up at 5:00am six days a week to workout and I can't imagine what life would be like if I didn't.
I'm eating better, I feel better, I look better, I'm happier, I have more energy and I'm stronger than I've ever been. In fact, after my first round of the X, my wife, the lovely Mrs. GIAS, decided to join me for round 2. Husband and wife doing P90X every morning together...geeky, yes, but honestly, it's one of the coolest parts of our marriage.
I love P90X, I love getting up early and working out, and I'm going to continue for the forseeable future. However, now that I have this solid fitness base, I decided I should do something functional with it. Thus, at the end of 2009 I decided to try my hand at becoming a triathlete.
I knew this would be tricky for three reasons...1) I didn't own a bike, 2) I didn't have a pool and 3) I hate running. I solved problems one and two by buying a bike and getting a membership to 24 Hour Fitness. I still hate running. The next problem I knew I would have is being motivated to train and complete a triathlon. Like with P90X, I decided that I would commit to one triathlon, I would train hard and finish it. After that, I could decide if I want to do more.
I thought this would be harder (and it is) than committing to P90X because these workouts are not just going down to the basement for an hour or two before work. I have to plan, schedule and get myself to the gym (15 minutes away with no traffic) on a regular basis. Then I have to sign up and actually compete against a bunch of other people. How do I stay motivated do this and not quit?
There's a great site called 6 changes that offers advice on motivation and committing to a goal (hat tip Fitbomb). The site says:
Two steps in the 6 Changes method are extremely crucial, even if many people will be tempted to skip them:
1.Commit as publicly as possible to creating each new habit.
2.Log your progress daily, and very publicly.
These steps are extremely important — without them, you’re liable to drop your new habit at any time.
You need to be all in. You need to tell everyone. You need to be completely committed, or you’re wasting your time.
So yeah, I started this training blog. I'm telling my family and friends about this site. I'm not keeping my goals to myself. I'm committing to post about my daily progress (and some other stories too), whether it's good news or bad. I'm relying on you to read and keep tabs on me, to motivate me and to not let me slip up. I am signing up for the olympic distance Kansas City Triathlon, May 23, 2010.
I'm all in.
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