My New Daily Habit

Today marks 21 days that I have worked out consistently. Every day. 21 days in a row.

I think that now this qualifies as a habit. Different studies show different time frames (some as short as 2 weeks, some as long as 30 days) but the general benchmark is that it takes 21 days to form a habit.

I have written before about my new exercise goals. I started running again, after years of inactivity, this past January. I had originally signed up to run a half marathon, the America's Finest City, which is in mid-August; I later added a second half marathon, the Disneyland one, which is over Labor Day weekend. I was running semi-consistently to train from January through June, mainly doing a long run every weekend and trying to run once or twice during the week (which ended up usually being once in the week, sometimes never).

In June a friend of mine convinced me to try cross-training (that is, adding biking and swimming to my workouts to increase endurance and to minimize the risk of injury). I did, and enjoyed the challenge so much that I signed up to do my first triathlon, the Mission Bay one, which is in October.

Since I signed up for the triathlon, I have been working out daily. I'm not talking about a going for a little walk and calling that a workout; I mean, a WORKOUT!

Here is what I have been doing:

Mondays: swim (20-30 laps)
Tuesdays: run (3 miles)
Wednesdays: bike (3-4 miles)
Thursdays: run (3 miles)
Fridays: swim (20-30 laps)
Saturdays: long bike ride (about 12 miles is my longest so far)
Sundays: long run (right now it varies 10-13 miles)

I also do ab crunches every day, and have been trying to get to the gym on swim days to do weight workouts on my legs. Ideally I would also get to the gym to do upper body strength training, but frankly haven't had (or made) the time for that so far. Plus, I am doing that hundred pushups program so I feel like I'm getting a good upper body workout 3 days a week through that.

I am very proud of myself. I have never in my life been this active. Even when I was training for a full marathon 7 years ago, I was running 3-4 days a week, but not working out 7 days a week. This active lifestyle is new to me, and it feels great. I will continue with this daily workout routine, but realize that at some point I will have to skip. For example, if I get too fatigued, I may need a rest day. Or if I get a migraine or am otherwise sick. But save for major obstacles, I would like to continue this lifestyle. As I said, it's become a habit.

As I mentioned on a previous post, I have 5 reasons for wanting to do the half marathons and triathlons. Now I have added a 6th reason: because it seems impossible for me. Therefore, I want to do it.