Setting a goal and enjoying the journey

It's time to get back at it. Healthy living is the epitome of "what have you done for me lately?" No matter how great you felt yesterday, no matter how solid your commitment to your routine and your goals, you wake up every morning and those same choices are there to make once again. Get up early or sleep in? Breakfast or no? Eggs or donuts? Water or soda? You know the drill. The choices are endless and you are challenged to choose health over convenience or inertia once again. It is exciting, empowering, or exhausting, depending on the day.

A lot of people used the extra time at home during the pandemic to eat healthier, exercise more, learn something new, or tackle a big project. Personally, I had stints in each of these areas but my balance was way off. As a result of basically "going with the flow" every day, I'm now nursing an overuse injury to my hamstring, fighting a fierce snacking habit, and struggling to regain my sense of optimism and hope.

It occurred to me today as I leisurely cruised the Wisconsin countryside on my daughter's road bike while wearing my tennis shoes (following PT advice to lay off the clipless pedals for a while) that I needed a dose of my own medicine. What I need is to back up, refocus, and apply my own Unexpected Athlete model to my own life. Coming full circle, what I need is to reevaluate my food, exercise, confidence, and relationships to rediscover my best self. To get back to the version of me that was motivated and energetic and positive and happy and inspired (and inspiring). The autopilot that I created over the past few years has shut off, and I'm now feeling the the effects of that free fall. Mood, discipline, confidence, and honestly, caring, have taken a nosedive.

Time to correct. And reconnect. I need a goal. Something concrete, not just "stop being a slacker" or "eat healthier food", or "be happier". I'm the kind of person who needs something big to shoot for (you read my about page, right?) but I also realize that I need to not rush the process. I need to build the right foundation so I have the mental and physical strength to play the long game.

This blog is the documentation of the process. Maybe you've been curious about what the Unexpected Athlete model looks like. It's been difficult to articulate and describe because there are so many uniquely personal components that factor in. Success looks different for different people, and for individuals at different times in their life. Follow along over the next weeks, months, and hopefully years for a real-time look at how this process works. This will be my experience. I hope you will find a bit of inspiration and motivation as you move through your own.