Well, well, well. Today was a bit of a blow out. A nutella raspberry brownie with morning tea, extra large gourmet sandwich at lunch, and a chocolate bar mid afternoon. It’s not easy when there’s sweet treats being sold as fundraisers for all sorts of charities. I have little resolve when I know it’s going for a good cause. Excuses, excuses.
Then at the gym after a good weights workout I got on the treadmill hoping to do some interval training. Right, it didn’t happen. Within five minutes I felt an unpleasant prickling in my knee cap. Walked for 15 minutes instead then hit the showers. Not good for a Monday but I still have a few days to get my self together before my 31 day no sugar marathon starts on top of the eight week body transformation I’m doing. Tomorrow I’ll opt for the spin bike to lessen the impact on the knee.
This past week has been a trial and error week. I thought I’d get my weights workouts done at lunchtime and then cardio after work. Um, yeah, that’s not going to happen every day. I don’t want to be heading to the gym twice a day if I can help it. But it’s an option if needed.
Early mornings at the moment are not my favourite time of day. I’m tired. Even when I’ve had eight hours of sleep I don’t feel like getting up especially since it’s still dark outside and much warmer in bed than out of it. Another few weeks and this may change. The days are getting longer which is fantastic. I can’t wait for spring!
I’ve noticed that having a pre training week before you embark on a challenge is a great way for trial and error training. In seven days you can figure out what part of day suits you best for training, you can monitor the distractions and make a plan to avoid them when you start your challenge. You have more room for the little mistakes like having a slice of office birthday cake without feeling guilty.
The trial and error week is like warm up for the big challenge: be it going sugar free, running a marathon, training for an Ironman or entering a body building competition. It’s a week to prepare mentally for the next stage.
In the past week I’ve trained with weights at the gym and at home. I’ve tried different exercises, ran on the treadmill and outdoors, walked and stretched and almost figured out what is working and what isn’t. There’s still much room for tweaking here and there but as long as I commit to daily training combing weights and cardio and a bit of fun I’ll manage to attain my goal.
What do you think of a trial and error week before committing to a lengthy challenge?
