Letting A Run Go Every Once In A While

Allowing Time For Life To Sneak Up While Still Getting Your Miles

By Greg Albert

I am a creature of habit. I believe in self-discipline and holding myself to goals that I set out. That self-discipline helped me immensely in law school when I could have been watching TV and playing video games all the time. (Truth be told, I did a lot of both over the last 3 years.)

But while self-discipline is generally a positive thing, I have found that I have a tough time moderating it. It’s the old saying: moderation in everything, including moderation. Instead of giving myself a break and running or biking another day, I go out and bang out the miles even if I’m not feeling up to it. Again, that’s generally a good thing, but it creates absolutely no flexibility into the schedule to allow for, well, life to sneak up.

It’s almost like the movie, If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium. If it’s Tuesday, I’m running or biking. And I’m doing that whether it’s hot or cold, raining or sunny, thundering or snowing. And I do it because it’s on the schedule. If it’s not on the schedule, I don’t do it.

During the bar, this type of discpline was critical. My days were heavily structured and scheduled, so I put exercise into the schedule and stuck to it. But, as of late, I haven’t had much of a schedule as I have had a couple of weeks off.

And you know what? It’s actually OK to miss a run or bike ride. It’s OK to change it to a different day because your stomach is upset or there’s something else to do. I know it doesn’t sound like much of a revelation to most of you, but for me, it’s like the first I’ve ever heard it. We’re so funny that way, aren’t we?

But with everything else, I can’t let too many runs or rides slide. I still need to hit the road as often as possible and get my miles in. At least for now, I just don’t have to be so incredibly rigid.

I guess there’s a first time for everything.

Greg recently completed law school in Concord, New Hampshire. He ran from Philadelphia to Los Angeles during his years at law school (all virtually). Those 2,736 miles have kept him motivated to hit the roads in the summer heat and the winter cold. He’s run two marathons, a self-created ultramarathon, numerous 5Ks, 10Ks, and half-marathons, and most recently did a century bike ride across three states. Catch Greg’s Blog located at Greg’s Blog