Choosing the Path to Fitness

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Silver Sage athlete and Reno WheelWoman stalwart, Heidi, on sticking with it…

Last summer, my job took over my life.  I spent several months looking out my office window while sitting in front of a computer monitor full of stuff that needed to be done.  Deadlines were looming and there wasn’t enough time in the day to do much besides taking my dogs for their daily walk.  It took a toll and I ended up gaining weight, losing fitness, suffering from back pain on a regular basis due to sitting too much, and generally being stressed out and , frankly, cranky.

With autumn and the completion of those projects, it was time to get back in shape.  It’s been a long journey back that is still in progress.  As I’ve written here before, though, Coach Julie Young has been instrumental in helping me get on the path back to fitness and I fully intend to stay there.

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Well, 2015 started with a fresh set of deadlines that were totally unexpected.  My blissful time as “an athlete pretending to do work” had come to an end.  As the projects began to pile up again, I chose to learn from how the summer unfolded because I don’t ever want to feel that bad again.

I consulted with Julie to let her know that my time was becoming severely limited, but I was bound and determined to do what I could to stick to my plan.  Her comforting response was to focus on the quality of the workouts and do what’s possible – key points for any working stiff who’s hoping to balance all the demands of daily life with an athletic pursuit.

As a result, my trainer now has a permanent place in my home office, so when a ride is called for and I can only squeeze in so much time, it’s there to remind me that it is possible.  It may not be optimal to do your SFRs or sprints on the trainer, but it’s better than the alternative – something is better than nothing.  The structure of the workout plan also helps, in that I can take a half an hour here and 45 minutes there to stay as fit as possible.  I may be a sweaty mess in front of my monitor, but I feel so much better knowing that I’m paying attention to what my body needs.

Race season starts in less than two weeks and, thankfully, I feel as prepared as I can be because I had the guidance from Julie to stick it out when time got crammed.