Greater than Zero

I've entered my dad life era. Yes, I just said that. My previous mantra was to be better than yesterday. Now it's to survive. Just kidding but in all seriousness I've always tried to do everything, maybe a little too much but it's my make up. Everything being socialising, exercising, work and whatever else (like writing or podcasts). In the past few months I've often been told "your life is going to change. No more marathons for you. No more exercise for you.". But f*ck that. Of course things are going to change but that's life.

I'm 4 weeks in, and you were right, my life has changed. It's amazing. But yes training has had a setback, I haven't been able to hit 10 hour weeks (yet). However, I have managed 5 hour weeks. I've found a new mantra for this phase, "Greater than Zero".

You see, I used to aim for at least an hour per day of exercise on average and hopefully I'll get back to that some day. Right now there are other priorities but I still need to do something and I've realised that something really is better than nothing. It's an experiment and every day is different but that's the fun in experimenting rather than perfecting (see tiny experiments).

My midweek plan used to be 45 minute runs, 75min bike sessions, 70 minute runs and more. That has now changed. It's an open book, plan A and plan B. There are a couple of key sessions in the week, when time looks good I hit the key sessions. When it doesn't I aim for greater than zero. I've realised that 20minutes, even 10minutes of movement feels better than zero, both mentally and physically.

Movement could be a 20minute run, or maybe it's 10minutes of cycling through push ups, squats and band work trying to work some full body movements. Previously I could plan that my session would be at 6pm, 8am or whatever time I chose. Now it's at whatever interval the baby sleeps, which means no more procrastination or perfect timing, it's about doing it right now in that moment that presents. There's something weirdly satisfying about it at times.

It's definitely not easy but it's also very doable. And there are other people out there who do a lot more than me, and I take a lot from them to inspire me. Hopefully I can inspire others to get a few more minutes of movement in their day from whatever I do.

I'm going to run a marathon, it'll be Dublin in October. I do also have an IronMan entry for October but that'll probably take a back seat. Not because I wouldn't be able but because I want to perform to a standard and that standard likely will not be possible. There might also be a Hyrox in November as part of having some fun with friends.

I do come from a lucky position. I've got a big base of fitness in both endurance and strength. But it does come with mental battles of wishing I was fitter and faster. So if you're coming from nothing, you've also got your own advantage. The only way is up and greater than zero is always an improvement.