The exercise habit, take #756,321

Last week I sat myself down and said, "Okay, self, what does a sustainable exercise habit look like during the semester?" It feels like there are a lot of things to juggle, you know? But this is what I am testing out for now:

1. I am trying a 3-month subscription to Meg Gallagher's Strong Strong Friends program. So far I am digging it. It's a good level of hard, it's teaching me new things in a way that feels 95% manageable, and it's moving me out of the lifting rut in which I had languished for a while. I'm aiming to lift in the basement on Tuesdays, at the gym on Thursdays, and some combination thereof on the weekends.
2. I am going to aim low with running this fall and see how it feels. It is better to run/walk for 20 minutes than to wish I could run for a sustained 45 minutes. If I am run-walking for 20 minutes on a regular basis, it will move me in the direction of 45-minute runs more effectively than any amount of wishful thinking. I am going to try it while the weather and the daylight allow: MWF, out the door at 7am for a low-stakes run.
3. I am also going to add in a little bit of anti-perfectionist yoga. Does it matter that I am less flexible than I used to be? No, it does not. Does it matter that my mind wanders during yoga? No, it does not. Is it a good idea to stretch out my hips and hamstrings and feet if I am going to be running regularly? Heck, yeah, it is. So I am going to add in a wee tiny smidge of yoga in the evenings on the days when I run. A little pigeon pose, a little forward fold, a little up dog. [you say: "what's up dog?" I say: "not much, what's up with you?"]

Back in the winter when I read Younger Next Year for Women it was so persuasive that I was sure I would be exercising 45 minutes per day, 6 days per week forevermore. It is the sensible thing to do; I am a sensible person. The end!

I hope that I am a sensible person, at any rate, but I am also a person with a bunch of stuff on her plate. I'll give it a whirl. It feels optimistic but not bonkers-optimistic. I will report back on the actual state of the bonkers-ometer in a couple of weeks.