Tuesday, June 29, 2010

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

Remember the other day when I was talking about Time and fitting exercise into your day. I want to make clear that not all of my workouts are stellar.

The Good.   A Good workout is one that I have planned, that feels great during, and that feels great after. These are somewhat regular in my life and I am thankful for many Good workouts. Please note that when I say” planned” I mean planned for that day – my break time is basically out of my control so you will find me at the gym or running generally anytime between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Usually if I make it to yoga class, it is a Good workout. If I am able to get in a New Rules workout as planned, then that is a Good workout. If I have a run which is not totally dreadful – which is rare – then that is a Good workout. I would say that on an average week I can pull off maybe 3-4 Good workouts…the rest are Bad or Ugly.

The Bad.  These are workouts that are so off schedule it is ridiculous. Or workouts for which I have zero energy. Or workouts during which my legs are made of led. Or my tummy hates me. Or its too hot. Or its too cold. Or I only have 20 minutes to squeeze it in. Or I forget my ipod…or my sports bra…or my socks…or my water. A prime example of a Bad workout is a day where the only time I can run is 3 p.m. (my sleepy time), I haven’t had lunch yet, I don’t have my ipod and the only clothes I have are wet and smelly from the day before. This is me a couple days a week. It ain’t pretty…but it ain’t ugly. Yet.

The Ugly.   The Ugly workout isn’t based on smelly clothes and lacking ipods…granted, you probably don’t want to stand next to me or talk to me on those days, but at least I am pulling off a somewhat decent workout … just under bad conditions. An Ugly workout is where, no matter how hard I try, I just cannot get my head in the game. One day I remember vividly…I was all set for an ugly workout ( 6:00pm, dirty clothes, no ipod, treadmill) … I lasted 6 minutes. 6 Minutes! I had the energy. I had the time. I just did not have the heart or the head to see it through. These mental blocks to a good or even bad workout kill me. Usually if I can sense this disaster coming I’ll admit defeat and grab my book and hit the stationary bike for 45 minutes or so. Other days I walk right out of the gym admitting defeat.

I had an Ugly run this past Sunday. It started out as just bad – too hot, middle of the day nonsense – and after 2 miles of running, I just gave up. The giving up is very, very Ugly.

1 comment:

  1. Hello LKP! I love the good, bad and ugly metaphor. That is so appropriate for my studying, or lack there of, as of this moment. My head was in the game for the past month. Solid, good studying, day-in-day-out, until about a week ago. I hit the wall. I am not giving up, I've put too much into this, but for the past week its been bad and even ugly. Thanks for sharing your insights and I especially like the Ryan Hall quote. I will focus on that for now and focus on just getting up. Miss you babes! xoxo Tina

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