It’s Friday night, and I haven’t spent much time thinking about content for this week’s newsletter. I have a lengthy fallback topic list, but I want to leave those ideas for days when absolutely nothing appeals to me. On impulse I pull up a day counter app, and I plug in the dates March 5, 2010 and October 4, 2019. Lo and behold, it’s exactly 3500 days! It seems coincidental that it is such a nice, round number, although statistically it is no more significant than any other number. But still…
On March 5, 2010, I pledged to exercise thirty minutes a day for fifty days in a row. I was almost intoxicated with excitement at the challenge, and the first three or four days flew by. Then it became really tough -- difficult to excruciating, almost. I had days when I would procrastinate and delay working out until after dinner or later. One night during the first fifty-day period, I came home from work very late, about 11:00 p.m. I was at a crossroads: either persist and honor the commitment or revert to my erratic, chaotic, I’ll-work-out-more-often-next-week lifestyle. I took a deep breath, cursed the circumstances that required me to work late, grabbed a coat, and took a chilly but ultimately inspiring thirty-minute walk.
I remember a lot of my workouts in those first fifty days, mostly because of how challenging it was to get myself out the door. I once bribed myself with an issue of People magazine to pass the time on an exercise bike. Another time when I had a 6:00 a.m. flight, I walked the airport concourse and repetitively lifted my carry-on bag over my head to replicate a weightlifting session. Later that same trip, I ran circular paths around my hotel so I wouldn’t get lost. On another occasion, I ran to my book club gathering and once or twice I ran to a board meeting. I was delighted and proud when I logged fifty consecutive workout days.
On day 51, I woke up, looked outside, and thought, why stop now?
So here I am at Day 3500. I hardly recall any of my workouts after the first fifty. For sure, I remember the occasional half marathon or Turkey Trot. Biking with friends in exotic locales is an adventure you never forget. Every so often, I swap out a normal workout for a strenuous household chore, some of which are memorable. (I once spent two hours bending over and scraping between the wooden slats on our deck with a putty knife; that was like a CrossFit-on- steroids workout!)
But now running or walking every morning is just about as exciting as making my bed. The beauty of a habit is that emotional responses are overridden by the comforting monotony of routine. I’m not filled with exercise anticipation, but I’m not burdened with reluctance, either. I just know that I am going to wake up, put on running clothes, and get outdoors. Exercise is the comforting backdrop to a life that can be uncertain, joyful, stressful, exhilarating, and unpredictable.
Welcome Exercise Day 3501, here I come! I feel neutral about you at the start, I’ll be inspired by you during my run, and I’ll be happy and tired when I’m done.