Getting Back To The Gym

SO I am someone who loves being physically active, I like going to the gym, lifting, running, hiking, kayaking and all those fun activities. I was also the person who for five months went to the gym literally everyday and some days I went to the gym twice in one day. I also wasn't the person who went to the gym strictly for losing weight, I went in order to be healthier overall individual.

But then the semester started...

And I was too busy to go everyday. So I went over a month without going at all, which was not a smart idea. I started to go back and was able to go to the gym at least two or four times a week. SO IMPROVEMENT! Go me! I had full intentions of working super hard over winter break and getting back into a routine where I was going at least six times a week. But then I got into graduate school.

And graduate school is hella expensive.

So over winter break, I worked 65-80 hours a week between my three jobs in order to save as much money as possible for graduate school. Which is fabulous but after working 10-15 hours a day, the absolute last thing I wanted to do was go to the gym. My motivation was dwindling greatly and I knew that I needed to get back before I wouldn't do it at all.

But I didn't.

So the spring semester started and here I am working full time, taking classes, interning 15-20 hours a week, and TA-ing for a class. My me time is few and far between because I am still trying to maintain a social life, get some SLEEP and at the very least eat healthily. So long story short...

I have NO time.

But the doctor's office in which I am interning at does a "company" 5k every year and this year I get to run with them. Which is AMAZING and super exciting that I get to be included in something like this with them. However, how the hell am I going to run 3 miles straight when I haven't ran in 3 months...

Someone, please send help.

Now I have to find the motivation to get back to the gym and work twice as hard so that I can run this three-mile race with my business and not look like a complete goofball. So the first steps I took was to set some goals for myself, both short term and long term goals. I find that if you have something to work for you are more inclined to actually work towards it.

Goals should always be considered "SMART"; specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bound.

My short term goal was to eat salad four to fives a week for lunch, to maintain a steady intake of vegetables that I am normally missing. This goal proved to be attainable because I eat lunch either at my internship or at my job pretty much every day and I can just make a giant salad at the beginning of the week and eat it all week.

Goal One: CHECK

My main long term goal is to run the 3.1-mile race in under 30 minutes, which is not an incredible race speed but is also fast enough for someone who is not a runner with chronic knee pain. This goal is a little harder because I know that I will need to have a group of short term goals over the next two months in order to achieve the long term one.

One of those goals is two go to the gym four times a week for the first two weeks, running three of the four times (with one long distance run). That goal will then evolve into going to the gym five to seven times a week and running at least four days with one maybe two long distance days. This will help build up my cardiovascular system and help me perform better on race day.

Short Term Goal Part 1: HALF CHECK

While I may not have completely achieved going to the gym four times a week for two weeks straight, I have started going back and am starting to regain confidence in my abilities at the gym and motivation to go to the gym and better myself. Although it took months to get back to a regular schedule I was able to do it just by setting a few goals.

Set goals, work hard and you'll eventually achieve them!