All praise the magic shorts
Yesterday I was feeling sorry for myself. My hip and knee were painful all Saturday night, and really interrupted my sleep. I knew when I got up that I wouldn't be able to run straight away, but had vague intentions of doing something "later". I threw some clothes on, went for a paper, took the clothes off again and went back to bed to read, with vague intentions of doing some exercise before lunch.
Except that didn't happen. I had lunch, and still wasn't dressed. I started (carried on?) feeling sorry for myself, about the pain, about the general onset of lethargy, and about my general non-perkiness. I didn't have anything I wanted to do at home, I was just stuck in a state of inertia. I had vague intentions of doing some exercise before the evening.
I felt the afternoon slipping away, so I started trying to reason with myself. Eventually I persuaded myself that if I could only get to the gym I could do something that wasn't going to hurt my legs, like upper body weights, going on the bike or swimming. I reluctantly levered myself off the sofa (my big achievement was making it downstairs...), and went to put my gym kit on.
And then, as if by magic, once the shorts were on, the enthusiasm returned. I actually felt better simply by wearing my gym stuff rather than a dressing gown. I felt like the fit, kick ass me rather than the moping around on a Sunday wondering when it's decent to start on the wine me. I got to the gym, and I suddenly had energy.
I ran 5k, did some weights and went on the bike. It wasn't as long as the run I had planned, but it was still a pretty kick ass workout. I felt better for it, and I was so glad I'd gone. Just putting the shorts on seemed to inspire me more than any sort of mental persuasion talk.
And this morning, similar. My alarm went off early, and I wan't enthusiastic. But putting the shorts on was an important first step, and by the time I'd finished I'd run nearly 6 miles. (Without pain! Yay for the new running shoes!).
So from now on if I want to press the snooze button I'll make myself put the shorts on first. If I want to, I can then go back to bed, but hopefully the magic power of the shorts will win out, and it will get me out of the door and doing something.
Except that didn't happen. I had lunch, and still wasn't dressed. I started (carried on?) feeling sorry for myself, about the pain, about the general onset of lethargy, and about my general non-perkiness. I didn't have anything I wanted to do at home, I was just stuck in a state of inertia. I had vague intentions of doing some exercise before the evening.
I felt the afternoon slipping away, so I started trying to reason with myself. Eventually I persuaded myself that if I could only get to the gym I could do something that wasn't going to hurt my legs, like upper body weights, going on the bike or swimming. I reluctantly levered myself off the sofa (my big achievement was making it downstairs...), and went to put my gym kit on.
And then, as if by magic, once the shorts were on, the enthusiasm returned. I actually felt better simply by wearing my gym stuff rather than a dressing gown. I felt like the fit, kick ass me rather than the moping around on a Sunday wondering when it's decent to start on the wine me. I got to the gym, and I suddenly had energy.
I ran 5k, did some weights and went on the bike. It wasn't as long as the run I had planned, but it was still a pretty kick ass workout. I felt better for it, and I was so glad I'd gone. Just putting the shorts on seemed to inspire me more than any sort of mental persuasion talk.
And this morning, similar. My alarm went off early, and I wan't enthusiastic. But putting the shorts on was an important first step, and by the time I'd finished I'd run nearly 6 miles. (Without pain! Yay for the new running shoes!).
So from now on if I want to press the snooze button I'll make myself put the shorts on first. If I want to, I can then go back to bed, but hopefully the magic power of the shorts will win out, and it will get me out of the door and doing something.
posted by YP at 8:37 PM
2 Comments:
I need magic shorts :-) My magic shorts today was having to go to the store. I went by foot walking is exercise.
You need to mass produce the Magic Shorts - I'd buy 7 of them (one for each day).
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