Does exercise ever make you examine your life's choices?
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I just recently became a stay at home mom since March. Until then, I worked 40 hours a week for 16 years. I missed my kids and I felt I had no time for anything. I was living a robot life in a rush. I have one child in school and the other is 2. My husband shift works so he’s not even home a lot of evenings. While I LOVE having my toddler at my hip 24/7 and being able to spend more time with my son after school, I was starting to feel like I had no time for myself like I was used to having when I worked. I joined a gym 3 weeks ago and have gone about 3 times a week (when my husband can watch the kids) and I have to say it’s liberating! I focus on ONLY myself during that time. I feel so empowered like I can do anything during that time. It’s confirmed every time I’m at the gym that I did the right thing not only for my physical health, but my mental health too. I got some of the independence back that I was so used to before. I feel like I have the best of both worlds now and I know my recent life choices were the right ones to make.3
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When I was long distance backpacking, I had a few days where I definitely asked myself why I was insane enough to put myself in a position where I might die in the snow on top of a mountain or swept away by a rushing river. Then we'd crest the ridge and I'd see the beauty and I understood exactly why I was willing to risk my life to be where I was.
As a runner, it's all much more low key. I have a couple of hours of hard effort, and then i get beer and ice cream. The risk isn't as great and neither is the reward. Still, it's a lot better than staying home.2 -
I am never more sure of myself than when I’m out on the trail, even if there are adversities to be overcome, I welcome the challenges as an opportunity to see what I’m really made of and feel I am exactly where I belong. My only regrets are that I don’t have more time to spend out there and that I didn’t begin trail running sooner in my life, but better late than never!1
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When I did Kilimanjaro in February, most of the mountain was pretty energizing for me (I'd trained a lot and thankfully I tolerated the altitude quite well) but summit night was rough like that. By that altitude, the lack of oxygen just saps your energy like crazy, and you wake up at midnight for about eight hours of slowly shuffling back and forth and back and forth on what seems like the endless switchback from hell, in the snowy cold. Aside from a couple of minor landmarks there's almost no way to even gauge your progress; you just have to trust that by putting the time in you're getting closer. Then you reach the crater rim, you get a moment of pure bliss as you watch the sun rise, and then realize you have another hour of hiking up to the actual summit.
On the other hand, reaching the summit and standing on the Roof of Africa was one of the single best moments of my life.9 -
Yes - but I use it to keep going.
I kind of give myself permission to stop. Anytime I want to. No one has a gun to my head.
But when I have those thoughts, I then think, I can go a little farther, then I can stop in another minute.
9 times out of 10 I finish my whole workout.
Sometimes I stop, and if I do, I check in and see if I need to make some adjustments to my plan.2 -
Yes, mostly because I cannot do moderate... when I workout, I don't just workout, I push myself to my limits and anything less can make me feel as if I have failed. On days when my legs are aching and I just feel like doing some reading, or writing or embroidery instead, yeah, I wish I could just veg out and quit. But I don't. I need the workouts for a sense of routine and I need them as a form of stress release.2
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KANGOOJUMPS wrote: »FOR SURE!, minus 30, swirling winds, cannot see anything, feel anything, and I am snowshoeing in the middle of nowhere! Those are THE BEST HIGHS! I am the only one outside, and everyone is on the couch!, gotta love it!
Oh thanks for bringing up snowshoeing! I must try that this winter. We just got out first snowfall yesterday and I think it will stick around.
Last winter I made sure to go for my "minimum 1 mile walk" outside regardless of the temp. Yep even 40 below or worse. I never ever questioned that decision because I felt so proud of myself. And man I slept good those nights.2 -
The negative self talk is fairly typical at some point during longer triathlons, so I rehearse my "why continue?" argument ahead of time. One thought that keeps me going is being thankful that I"m healthy enough to do these things at my age, having lost several good friends to illness during their 50's. I often imagine them telling me to "suck it up" when I'm feeling sorry for myself and want to quit.
As far as quitting for keeps, I get far too much satisfaction from racing and the friendships I've formed with other endurance junkies to consider quitting and becoming a couch potato.4 -
I'm loving this thread! It makes me feel less alone.
I don't usually question my life choices before working out, it's the day or two after, hello DOMS! My husband has recently started joining me at the gym and the other day we were sadly tottering around the house with DOMS legs getting ready for our run and he said, "Isn't being fit supposed to make you feel better?"
I had to remind him that we used to be sore and stiff all the time without ever having done anything. Now at least there's a good reason for it!2 -
The negative self talk is fairly typical at some point during longer triathlons, so I rehearse my "why continue?" argument ahead of time. One thought that keeps me going is being thankful that I"m healthy enough to do these things at my age, having lost several good friends to illness during their 50's. I often imagine them telling me to "suck it up" when I'm feeling sorry for myself and want to quit.
As far as quitting for keeps, I get far too much satisfaction from racing and the friendships I've formed with other endurance junkies to consider quitting and becoming a couch potato.
around mile 10 of that half marathon in an 70.3 right? or is that hunger?1 -
Pretty much every time I do a 1/2 century...not that it's particularly long relative to a lot of endurance cycling, but it's about my limit in regards to it being challenging but still fun for the most part...but yeah, I usually hit about the 40 mile mark and I'm like, "this is stupid...I wanna beer."
The last 1/2 century I did actually took me directly through the edge of my neighborhood with about 5 miles left to go...I seriously contemplated just rolling into my drive way and cracking open a cold IPA and grilling a burger...1 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »Pretty much every time I do a 1/2 century...not that it's particularly long relative to a lot of endurance cycling, but it's about my limit in regards to it being challenging but still fun for the most part...but yeah, I usually hit about the 40 mile mark and I'm like, "this is stupid...I wanna beer."
The last 1/2 century I did actually took me directly through the edge of my neighborhood with about 5 miles left to go...I seriously contemplated just rolling into my drive way and cracking open a cold IPA and grilling a burger...
put some beer in a water bottle and carry it?3 -
I have these thoughts during cardio. I mean, no one would know if I ended my session 5 minutes before I planned to. Seriously.. no one would care. Except.. I would know.. and when I the scale doesn't budge I will eventually care. SIGH.0
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I did a trail marathon in the summer. Obviously a trail marathon is going to be a bit more than 26.2 miles, but...
The weather was horrendous. It had been really nice all week, to the extent I was more concerned about overheating. I was soaked and cold. I skidded on wet rock at about 14 miles, battered my right knee and bounced my head on the trail.
At about 25 miles I reached a bit of route I'd been on before during an ultra. It was steep downhill, very rocky and I was knackered by that stage. After a mile of that I knew I was still at least a mile from the finish. After another mile, and still quite a way from the finish there was a steep climb. Muddy, and steep enough that it was a hands and knees situation for about 200 metres.
I still had another mile after that climb. At that point I was in a pretty bad place.
In the end it was only just a bit over 28 miles, so not as far as I've run before. But that last couple of miles was hideous.
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cwolfman13 wrote: »Pretty much every time I do a 1/2 century...not that it's particularly long relative to a lot of endurance cycling, but it's about my limit in regards to it being challenging but still fun for the most part...but yeah, I usually hit about the 40 mile mark and I'm like, "this is stupid...I wanna beer."
The last 1/2 century I did actually took me directly through the edge of my neighborhood with about 5 miles left to go...I seriously contemplated just rolling into my drive way and cracking open a cold IPA and grilling a burger...
I've been there. About 10 miles from the end of a long ride, I'm telling myself "I want to get back to my car. I just want to sit on something that's a real chair. Enough of this!" And I'm relieved, don't get me wrong, but also a little sad it's over.0 -
Yeah, asking myself why I had a burger, 2 orders of fries and a beer for lunch - total 1644 cals - while I row for 30 mins just to get 300 of those cals back. LOL!2
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Burpees are doing that to me right now! But I have decided that by the end of this year I will have developed an enviable burbee form
I was trying to explain this to a non-MFP'er but I am sure you all get this. 2 -
Yes, just yesterday. After I got done shoveling and plowing snow I decided a hike was in order, my first winter hike of the season. Due to my late start and the fact the snow was over a foot deep I turned around sooner than I should have, but not before totally exhausting myself breaking trail. It was starting to snow again so common sense prevailed and I turned around and got home a little before dark. The couch would have been much nicer.1
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deannalfisher wrote: »The negative self talk is fairly typical at some point during longer triathlons, so I rehearse my "why continue?" argument ahead of time. One thought that keeps me going is being thankful that I"m healthy enough to do these things at my age, having lost several good friends to illness during their 50's. I often imagine them telling me to "suck it up" when I'm feeling sorry for myself and want to quit.
As far as quitting for keeps, I get far too much satisfaction from racing and the friendships I've formed with other endurance junkies to consider quitting and becoming a couch potato.
around mile 10 of that half marathon in an 70.3 right? or is that hunger?
@deannalfisher - It sure wasn't hunger during the Lake Placid 70.3 race. My "moment of truth" came at the 10 mile mark on the run course, just as I turned the corner by Linda G's restaurant and faced that nasty half mile uphill climb back into town. Any thoughts of maintaining an open HM pace ended right there. If there weren't so many spectators, I just may have stopped then and taken a DNF. Going to have to figure that one out, since I'll get to run it twice in the race there next July after 112 miles on the bike. Oh joy.0
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