Hello ,,
I have a story that might make you smile. Years ago, when I lived in Edinburgh, I had a morning running route around the Meadows and Arthur's Seat that I did every weekday and Saturday. This habit became so ingrained that after celebrating New Year in Glasgow, I somehow found myself halfway around the Meadows at 7am on January 1st, still feeling the effects of the night before. The power of habit had literally carried me out of bed and halfway around my route before my brain fully engaged with what I was doing!
While this story still makes me laugh, it taught me something valuable about building sustainable training habits - and when to break them. Let's explore this balance.
3 Insights About Making Training Stick
I.
A well-established habit can be stronger than temporary discomfort. When a routine becomes truly ingrained, it often feels easier to do it than to skip it - though perhaps with some adaptation for hungover New Year's mornings!
II.
Building a habit is simpler than maintaining a complex tracking system. A straightforward routine - like my regular morning run - can become almost automatic, while elaborate training plans often require constant conscious effort. That's why I favour a weekly routine of doing similar training on the same days each week.
III.
The best habits include knowing when to adapt them. Sometimes that extra hour of sleep is exactly what your body needs. Creating sustainable habits isn't about rigid rules - it's about building patterns that support your overall progress while staying flexible enough to respond to your body's needs.
2 Questions For Your Next Session
I.
What's one small training habit you could make as automatic as brushing your teeth?
II.
How can you build flexibility into your habits so they bend rather than break when life gets complicated?
1 Real-World Example
That Edinburgh running habit didn't develop overnight. What started as a morning run gradually evolved into running both to and from work. The route grew naturally - first just the Meadows, later extending to Arthur's Seat as fitness and confidence grew. This pattern of running twice daily ultimately led to one of my best performing periods. The key was consistency in timing rather than the specifics of each session. Even on days when I was tired or weather was poor, I'd still go out - sometimes for a shorter route or at an easier pace, but maintaining the habit of movement. It became so natural that even a New Year's hangover couldn't stop it - though in retrospect, that might be taking consistency a bit too far!
