Small steps, long-term change!

"Small, seemingly insignificant goals can turn into life-changing experiences in the blink of an eye"
-Susan Lacke

We all set long-term goals, I know I do, I just did actually: Ironman 70.3 Raleigh, NC June 1, 2014 and possibly a full Ironman in 2015.

I haven't officially signed up for either, because registration isn't open yet, but Raleigh is my goal half ironman and I've got a whole lot of expectations for that race. I want to be at least 20 lbs lighter, I want to be faster in the swim, bike AND run, I want to feel stronger, look better and hopefully place in the top 50%.

Yep, I've got big expectations and I think that's okay, but let's admit it, humans are bad at long-term goals. The further away and bigger the goal, the more likely we are to procrastinate, make excuses and shift our goal. Ironman makes it a little harder, because registration is mighty expensive, so once you register, you don't really want to back out, but I could probably finish the race at my current weight and speed, so why set such high expectations?

Honestly?

Because I can. Because I deserve to be the best version of me and because I WANT to be the best version of me.



While my mind has already made this lifestyle a habit, I know in order to reach my long-term goal, I'm going to have to set some short-term ones. More importantly, I'm going to have to set realistic, attainable short-term goals that will keep me motivated.

I'm a behavior analyst, I know all about motivation and behavior change. It's what I do for a living and it's definitely what I am doing for my own training. I recently already gave you the basics: pair and condition the activities, take small steps, reinforce yourself and find your motivation.

But what does this actually mean?

Shaping: When creating new routines, you have to shape up the behavior. In run training programs you'll often see the Saturday long runs increase by as little as 10% every week. Not only is this the healthiest thing to do for your body (to avoid injury), it's also the best thing to do for your mind. Remember what Susan said, small insignificant change can turn into life-changing experiences. You've got to shape up your behavior and if you do it in small enough steps, you won't even know you're changing. Don't compare yourself to others. Collect your baseline pace and distance and build up from there. Most importantly, take it easy. It's good to be sore, but if you train right you can avoid injuries. Trust me, I know. I went from having all kinds of knee injuries to being completely injury free once I started following a plan.

Balance: Elite and endurance athletes look at their CTL (chronic training load) to help them decide when and how much to train. As Matt Fitzgerald explains in Racing Weight, CTL looks at the average training stress which includes duration and intensity of workouts. Humans it turns out have a maximum CTL. Exceed the threshold and you crash, get close to it without exceeding it and you can thrive. If you're really into racing like me, it might be worth investing in a TrainingPeaks account or some other software that can help you track your CTL.

Another option is following these basic rules:
1. Listen to your body: Don't make excuses, but if you feel tired or overworked, re-assess your plan, take a day off, go easier on yourself during your workout. Again, do not make excuses, but take care of yourself.

2. Balance your sleep, nutrition and training: Are you training too hard? Are you getting enough sleep? Are you fueling your body enough? Studies have shown correlation between sleep & performance and nutrition & performance, so if you don't focus on all three, you won't get very far.

3. Take breaks: The general triathlon rule is to take a break every 12 weeks. In general, take a break after an A race (like I did this week after my first Olympic). In the half Ironman training plan I recently downloaded, the coach actually suggests a recovery period every 4 weeks of training. This doesn't mean you dont' do anything during the recovery, it just means you take it easy on your body.

4. Try High Volume, Low Intensity training: What this basically means is that you train more, at lower intensity. Sure you can do the reverse, but if you do that you're more likely to exceed your CTL threshold and crash or get injured. Try training at 80% below threshold and 20% above it. For example, if you're going to do speedwork, start with a warm-up and end with a cool-down and mix speed intervals with recovery intervals, so that only 20% of your workout was an all out effort and the rest was lower intensity.

Nutrition: Depending on your current nutritional habits, it might be unfeasible to cut out all sodas, junk food, processed foods and a bunch of calories. The thing is, you don't have to. Cut out little bits at a time, make replacements gradually and identify those things you just can't live without (for me that's a lot of stuff, including cupcakes, margaritas, chocolate, eggs benedict, and cheese, so I'm finding ways to eat a healthy balance of those things).

Cutting all your favorites out for good will not work and more importantly, it will make you miserable. This is a lifestyle change, so the last thing you want is to be miserable.

Last, but not least, celebrate progress. Set small goals and celebrate them when you reach them. Whether it's completing an Olympic triathlon, losing 5 pounds or cutting out sodas from your diet.
Set the goal, commit to it, track your progress and celebrate when you reach the finish!

From chore to habit

Let's admit it, at one point in your life (maybe right now) working out felt like a chore. I know it did for me. I'd drag myself to my workouts, making all kinds of excuses for why it was okay not to go.

Now I crave the workouts. I anxiously await my workday to end so I can jump in the pool, hop on my bike or put on my running shoes. I no longer make excuses not to workout, it's a habit. It's a need, it's part of my every day routine and a day without some activity feels strange.

How did I get here? As a behavior analyst I definitely looked at the patterns that helped me, and can help you, make working out a habit instead of a chore.

Here's some of the things that helped me:
1. If you don't love it now, you have to build up your love for it. In behavioral terms you have to condition or pair it. That said, pick activities you like, do it with people you like and find little ways to reward yourself.

2. It takes time. Don't expect to hate it today and love it tomorrow. Slowly build up how much time you spend working out and always celebrate small successes.

3. Challenge yourself. Let's admit it, humans are competitive. It's good to have a workout routine, but make sure you're constantly challenging yourself so it doesn't get boring.

4. Take advantage of technology! You could say that I'm an fitness app addict.
My favorites are: MyFitnessPal (food & exercise log), Jawbone Up (wristband and app that tracks steps and sleep), Strava (for cycling), Nike+ (for running), EveryMove (rewards you for working out), PearSports (requires you to purchase their heart rate monitor but it's awesome and ill write a review soon), BodyShot (tracks your weight loss progress) and TrainingPeaks (athlete's version of FitnessPal).

(If you know cool apps I haven't mentioned here, please message me! I'd love to try them!)

5. Do it for yourself. You might need some external motivation like a margarita, cupcake, Facebook likes, new outfit or half marathon medal, but your internal motivation is crucial to make your workouts part of your daily routine. Find your personal reasons for doing it and make it your mantra.