A month or so ago, I downloaded an audiobook on kaizen, the idea of continuous improvement through small incremental steps. I listened to it on the car ride back to the airport from my parents’ house, and have listened to it here and there during my commute to work. One of the key takeaways from kaizen is that in order to take the first step towards any goal, you must break down the goal into the smallest incremental action item possible. It’s akin to flossing one tooth a night when you’re trying to build a flossing habit, or wearing your running gear to bed (like how I used to!) to be dressed and ready to go the next morning.
Since I’ve began listening to that audiobook, I’ve done a lot of thinking about how I could incorporate the concept of kaizen in my training. Oftentimes I give myself monumental goals that seem insurmountable and intimidating. That’s part of the thrill — attempting something that I feel that I mostly can’t do, but somehow might be able to pull off with enough work and determination. These are things like the Ironman (still haven’t checked that one off my list…), and some of my other lofty goals.
The idea of kaizen reminds me a lot of this:
In an attempt to employ this concept in my life, I bit off the 21-day run streak again that originally got me into the running habit. I was doing really well for a bit, until I managed to get myself sick a week ago and while I’ve been nose-trumpeting, it’s been tough getting my daily run in.
I’m trying not to come down too hard on myself seeing as though I really couldn’t help catching the cold, nor was it the lack of willpower or motivation that kept me from running — it was legitimately because I could not get myself out of bed to run, let alone to the office to work. (I did manage to work from home a lot last week in between some in-town travel, which was nice).
It’s still a pretty impressive graph to me at least! I’m knocking off the distance a few miles at a time, but it’s been awhile since I’ve really been back on my feet in this way. These small incremental goals have been refreshing. All of this will serve as a warm up for the Dopey Challenge training plan, which is something that I’m trying to get set up on my calendar. 29 weeks of run training! Where will I fit in my HIIT? What about tune-up races? So many questions!
So, in classic Amara fashion, here’s what I’m thinking: warm up races, cross-training, and back to a more regimented training style may be in order. I’m also longing for laps in the pool and have been doing tons of research into which 24 Hour Fitness gyms around me have a clean enough pool to my liking. It’d be great to get in a few short sessions a week. Being in the water has a calming effect on me, at least when it’s just me and the lane markers. I miss my solitary midnight swims, happy hour swims, early morning swims…I guess you can just say that I really miss swimming. Being completely landlocked in Colorado doesn’t really help. However, getting back on a 30-minute swim practice, a couple of times a week, could help me brush up on some pool techniques so that when I’m ready to consider triathlons again, I can be mentally prepared for the water.
With grad school wrapped up, I wonder what is next though. What is my next big thing? I suppose the Dopey Challenge is a pretty big thing, but it still seems like a stepping stone on my way to an Ironman one day. I suppose only time will tell. I’m slowly warming up to the idea of racing again, and I’ll have plenty of things to do on my list until I get into the throes of my season. I am excited to venture down this journey again. It’s about time for a new medal rack anyways.
Amara in Training 