Three months ago I decided to take a break from running. This seemed strange for me at first, especially after running for sixteen years with very little interruption. Yet I have learned that happiness can be a moving target. Clearly I needed to change to keep up with it.
The transition to other forms of exercise was surprisingly easy. After all, I had been swimming with my wife at the gym for over a year. I had done some yoga classes. Also, I had recently experimented with the elliptical, which is like running in a lot of ways. I found the elliptical familiar and easy to enjoy. It had none of the mental baggage running had taken on.
Exercise minus running has flourished. My typical routine has been something like this:
| Day | Activity | Notes |
| Monday | Elliptical | 40-50 minutes* |
| Tuesday | Rest Day | 🙂 |
| Wednesday | Swimming | About 2/3 of a mile, 35-40 minutes** |
| Thursday | Elliptical | 40-50 minutes |
| Friday | Swimming | About 2/3 of a mile, 35-40 minutes |
| Saturday | Elliptical | An hour |
| Sunday | Swimming | About 2/3 of a mile, 35-40 minutes |
| TOTALS: | 6 of 7 days of exercise! | Give or take 2 1/2 hours on elliptical, 2 hours swimming |
Here are some of the things I love about my current exercise regime:
- Not tracking my workouts. This has helped me shift my attitude from the continuous push of training and trying to “get better” to exercise for its own sake.
- As with last year, I’m digging the mellowness. It feels great knowing that a modest amount of daily effort is enough.
- Putting exercise in its proper place. Intense training started to feel like it was in competition with other things in life. It affected everything from my eating and sleep schedule to my available energy. I feel more in balance now.
- I’m enjoying myself. I can see myself continuing this routine for awhile.
*Some days I walk to and from the gym, which is about two miles round trip. That counts as exercise, too!
**Occasionally I have pushed beyond this. A few weeks ago I swam a mile. It took about 50 minutes.
***Don’t get me wrong. I truly loved marathoning and the rigors of intense training for much of the time while I was doing it.