Over spring break, when I was feeling glum about gray skies and endless grading, my daily exercise resolution skidded off the rails and I have not been able to get myself back on track. I am not entirely couchbound -- I'd say I've been exercising a couple of times a week, and my life always has a fair amount of built-in walking since I commute on foot. But I've been in a mental spiral with running (it will be discouraging -> maybe let's do it later -> now we are discouraged about being out of shape AND about procrastinating -> let's eat chocolate instead of running -> alas, everything is discouraging) and also with lifting. I haven't been back to the gym since I un-froze our membership in the aftermath of the omicron wave. (Of course, now we seem to be having a BA.2 wave, so maybe it's okay that I haven't been back to the gym.) There is a part of me that is really eager to get back into compound lifts with barbells. I want to deadlift, in particular -- there's something especially satisfying about standing up tall with a barbell loaded to the very edge of what I can lift with decent form. And I KNOW, I really do know, that "the very edge of what I can lift" is not going to get closer to what it was before omicron if I don't get in there and do the workouts.
The part of me in charge of actually hopping in the car and driving to the gym does not seem to be as enthusiastic as some other parts of me, however.
I keep thinking that I want to change things up: eat better, exercise more, grade more promptly, write more diligently. I think if I am more focused on exercise, some of those other changes will happen all on their own as the result of increased energy and focus. So here is my plan, O my internet friends: run tomorrow morning, even though it will probably rain on me, lift on Saturday, run + yoga on Sunday.
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