thinkythink

Exercise Strategy Adjustment

It's been a while since I've posted about exercise. Earlier this year, I joined my local track club, which has been amazing in a number of ways.
1. bonding with other women. I never got along with groups of girls growing up, and I'm not so good at the social-group-cue thing at all. AS a result, women kinda freak me out to be honest. But it worked in this setting. I think the trick is that it is an individual sport, but with group training. So no one has to care too much how good I am; yet mutual support makes everyone do better
2. learning about coaching. It's just good as a coach to have more contact with the original type of coaching- sports coaching.
3. structure. coach gave us workouts (which I sometimes modified) and more importantly, there was a time and place to show up.
4. accountability. This came in the form of other people who want me to show up, and who I want to see, and who keep encouraging me to come.

5. move at my own pace. Here, this is quite literal. but in genreal, if sports (or anything else for that matter) are too slow I may get bored, too fast, I get discouraged by own fatigue level.

6. frequency. we have 3 workouts per week. That's great for me because I need that frequency to stay in touch with why I like it, to make progress- and so if I miss some workouts I don't end up away from it for a very long time.

This was the perfect place to work out in my first year after having a baby; it's super close to my house, so there's a minimum of time traveling and being away from the house; it helped me get fitter and stronger again.
It's funny; I haven't gotten to run road races, which was a great idea, but it wasn't my underlying goal. My fundamental goal was to regain my pre-pregnancy fitness. I've certainly gotten a lot of it back this way. I have to keep reminding myself of this when I feel discouraged that the senior team has really found some traction and are running in some great training groups, making a lot of progress.

I came to a bit of a standstill because of some foot problems. they aren't thoroughly resolved, either in terms of recovery or understanding fully what's going on, but it seems to be some typical new-mommy stuff; plantar fasciaitis and achilles tendinitis. I slowed my training to walking, and at this point the group training isn't so perfect anymore, because it's a pretty boring way to walk. I may either find a walking buddy to come to workouts with me, or find some more structure to other walking workouts. I know I'd be selling myself short if I don't go beyond simply strolling with baby alone, and at the same time walking is ideal in my situation. I may go back to running workouts in Spring.

For now, I just need to adjust my strategy and remember why I'm doing this, or find some new goals. The tricky part is to integrate my own ADHD-related roadblocks, which include:

1. easily bored

2. run-on thinking (especially when bored) can make exercise a sad, rather than happy, thing.

3. when I'm not doing it I don't feel a connection to it, or to how important it is to me

4. unmanaged self-talk about exercising can divorce me from my intentions entirely.

Am I focusing on these things too much? I don't think so. By knowing these issues, I can keep an eye on their influence on me, and meanwhile, keep on walking.

What are you going to do this winter for exercise? How has your strategy for exercise changed or how do you need to adjust it right now, for your life situation or for the season? If you tell us about it in the comments, I bet it will help!

Getting through the workout

I went to my running workout yesterday. A few things I have to mention:

• Music helps get into the running (or whatever other exercise). I left my ipod in the car because it was raining. I know it makes me faster.
• Without music, it's easier to crap-talk myself. It's pretty easy to crap-talk myself, and I don't think it's just because I've just missed many workouts because of a cascade of viruses and baby ear infections and the like. I don't think it's because I feel sluggish from all the sickness, and "run" like it. I think it's easy to do.
• It's hard to keep the pep talk going. The best is when I let go and experience what I'm doing. (music helps that too).
• I know this isn't just me- or just ADHD. My track club buddies confirmed similar experiences.
• Pros of working out alone: I don't feel like I have to "catch up" to everyone else or go at a specific tempo
• Cons of working out alone: I have less motivation, pay more attention to too many details of what I'm doing and thinking, and it's LESS FUN.

Getting back to the workout

I've been writing about exercise, and getting to it.
Now I'm trying to get back to it; baby was sick. Then there was that one workout I missed because my car was being towed. Car was sick. Then, I was sick. I'm nearly better, but not all better.
On Sunday my husband recommended I go to my track workout because I'd feel better read:I'd be nicer. No, he's not that insensitive, but it's true, I'm a better version of myself when I've exercised, usually. But I wasn't all better. I'm still not all better. My eye is still all puffy. Today was all about a sinus headache. Mostly, I'm better though. And it's pretty easy to feel torn.

The longer I wait, the harder it is to go back.
That doesn't mean it makes sense to make myself even sicker by going.

And the complicated self-talk looks like this: "you're just saying it's better to wait because you're trying to talk yourself out of going. Or trying to find a legitimate reason not to go."
Inattentive speedy self-talk is super tricky' the above is not actually true. I want to work out. The real question:

Would it be helpful to exercise now? Or would it be more helpful to rest?

and:

What kind of exercise would be helpful now? Would be possible right now?

when I'm not feeling great:

What will allow me to ease my way in?
How can I bite off as much as I can chew, and then check back in with myself?

Working out alone, this may mean committing to a little piece and then checking in.
In a group setting, it may mean doing part of the workout, or ignoring the assigned workout. I know I'd want to tell our coach that I've had some flu-like bug and I'm starting slow. Not so much for his benefit; but for mine- it not only lets me off the hook, but it sets up the expectation that I won't do too much.

All that said, I'm kind of hoping track practice gets rained out, because then I won't get more behind everyone else, while I can rest, or even take a walk and work my way back into it! If it doesn't, I think I'll go, do the conditioning exercises, and then take it super slow.

Getting to the workout tip 2: Sharing what you're about to do

Another way to get out of my own way on the way to exercising -- Sharing what I'm about to do. Tara neatly addresses this in a recent blog post:

I'm not sure why but it still surprises me when I see things work for myself. Yesterday I was talking to my friend and colleague Becca Colao through IM. During our conversation I mentioned that I was procrastinating about exercising and that I wanted to exercise. With in minutes I got my socks and sneakers on and started exercising. So now I know that as both an ADHD Coach and an adult with ADHD that Sharing Your Goals does work.

She was talking about the strategy of "sharing your goals" from Nancy Ratey's new book, "The Disorganized Mind."  I take the notion of what I'm sharing down a level, because I think goals is a big-picture level, and getting my butt out of the house is a pretty detailed-level kind of thing. I try to think small when I want to exercise RIGHT NOW. So I call it not my goal (which works for some) but rather, just what I'm gonna do. Right now.

I use this strategy a lot. The IM with Tara was one example. I do this with my sister a lot. We use IM, e-mail, or phone. We use it to declare a truce in the internal argument about what to do next, and whether or not to exercise. We use it for other irksome tasks as well, like going through that pile of papers on the desk. Here's an example:

C,
I'm going to go through the !@#$%^&*(?! pile of papers on my desk now. Talk to you after.
-Becca

Becca,
Great!  Talk to you soon!
-C

C,
I did it. I gotta eat now.
-Becca

Becca,
EAT! Tuna is nice.
-C

Thrilling, isn't it? It works! Here's another one:

Becca,
I need to go for a swim but I can't figure out whether to go now or to trim the hedge or refile the things my assistant put in the wrong places or to call the 3 clients I should've called or go to the store.
-C

C,
GET YOUR BAG AND GO TO THE POOL. NOW. then call clients right after.
-Becca

Becca,
I have to call the other 6 people too!
-C

C,
CALL ME FROM THE CAR.
-Becca

Yeah, this is (a) sharing and (b) accountability and (c) designating your brain's driver.

Mine wants some tuna. Moral? Use some synergy. Use some help. Tell someone what your goals are, big or little, particularly when you need to get off your butt right now. We have degrees and stuff, but that doesn't make us smarter than all that! So don't feel silly, or do feel silly, just say it and get it done. Get out the door and get moving.

Getting TO the workout

As promised, some of the ways I get the workout done. This time: getting to the workout. Literally, getting to the workout- that's my strategy.

My job is to get to the door with my gear in hand, or on my body.
That's my job.
That's my only responsibility.

The whole driving-to-the-gym-changing-using-machines-then-the-elliptical-then-stretching-then-showering?
That's my future self's responsibility. Right now, while I'm trying to get my exercise happening? Just get to the door.

Then once I get to the door... well, time to drive to the gym. That's all. Just drive there.
Revise as appropriate for the workout (just walk down the street for your warmup. Just stretch. etc. etc.)

The point is to stop getting in my own way by thinking too much. If I think through the whole workout process, I do it in my head, but somehow I'm still sitting there, thinking about doing it. And talking myself out of it. And back into it. And. back. out. of. it. I'm a one-woman debate team. Debate teams aren't about action. Debate teams don't get me sweating. So I put the interpretation of whether/when/why/where I should work out on hold and just get to the front door.

Necessary Exercise

I've seen more and more talk about exercise and the brain lately, and that's a good thing. I've been to some great lectures by John Ratey on this topic at ADDA conferences and local coaching meetings. Now he's published a book about it, called Spark. I haven't read it yet, sorry John, I'm too busy reading about when to give the baby mushed up banana for the first time. But I would like to reflect on the theme and some of what I've heard from him before.

I think many of his points are well taken; for example, we don't hear as much about exercise as treatment for ADHD, depression, and so forth, because there isn't much financial gain involved in either studying or promoting it. At least not for the folks who look for financial gain here, i.e, the pharmaceutical companies. And yet, exercise can act like medications like Prozac or Ritalin. And, there are a lot of people for whom mental health and/or attention problems seem to appear only when they stop doing a lot of exercise for a long time. I believe John called it "post-marathon onset ADHD." In other words, some people's troubles with the mind only appear following trouble with the knees.

One conclusion: this dovetails with the concept of ADHD as a set of character traits (versus a pathology). Some people simply need a WHOLE LOT of movement on a daily basis, or perhaps a continual basis. The problems arise when they start moving. So the "symptoms" are circumstantial, and not a manifestation of a disorder.

Another conclusion: we need to take exercise more seriously. For me what automatically follows is that we need to put more attention on how we manage to get that exercise. We don't need to spend more energy thinking we ought to exercise more.

And yet another conclusion: Exercise can help. Some of us need a lot of movement and sweat and so forth, but that doesn't leave us happy as clams. Including enough exercise is, for some of us, like eating properly; if we don't eat properly, we don't feel good; but eating well is not sufficient to make everything great. It is necessary, but not sufficient.

Stay tuned for: how we actually get the exercise, exercise for us inattentive folk, and other subtleties.

Getting the workout

I know I do best when I workout a lot. This may mean at least 90 minutes per day. I first realized this in junior high school when I played on the volleyball team. We had practice every day after school. I remember telling my mother that I didn't seem to have any free time when I played volleyball, but the time I had was better. I was better. I was a better version of me,

I seem to come from people who are the same. Some of them take on vast athletic endeavors that require training as much as some people work. For some of the people close to me, this seems to be a natural process.

What I have in common with them:
-just a short workout can be boring
-getting through the first mile(s) is hard, then it get easier to workout for a long while.
-the challenge and goal may have to be bigger than for other people

What I don't have in common with them:
-I have to wrestle myself to get to my workout all the time
-It never feels like habit
-I've never gotten super-strong
-It doesn't get me out of my head sometimes

Ok, to be honest, maybe the others close to me who work out a lot have the same challenges. Except that last one. I'm the in-my-head gal. I think that's one of the things that people fail to address when they talk about how great exercise is for all of the mental woes and challenges; it's not just about doing it; it's not even just about motivating... the in-your-head stuff can persist through the exercise!  What I know is that it's generally still worth it. But I can't force myself through. Instead I have to find some way to it strategically. As in many things mind and ADHD and whatnot, force makes it worse. So next up: some ways I do get the workout done.