My Journey With Health And Fitness – Obsessing With My Goals

For the first time in quite a while today I went for a walk along our promenade. I wanted to get 10km in early morning so headed out at 5am. The temperature was a bit brisk for July but I had prepared for that and dressed accordingly. I was surprised that there have been many changes to businesses down at the beach but then I realized I have only walked there once since the beginning of April and that wasn’t even the full length of the promenade. I was thrilled though to see a couple bald eagles standing out on a sand bar. I had hoped to see the whale that has been breaching at the west end of the promenade but it wasn’t there this morning, maybe tomorrow.

I have goals set on my Apple Watch that are pretty high. They are broken down into 3 categories, move calories (burning them while working out), move minutes and stand time (the number of hours where you stand and move for at least 2 minutes). This past week I closed all three goal rings 6 days in a row. It would be pretty hard not to especially since I’ve been walking an average of 20km a day. Today I toned it down a bit by only doing 15km but since I had a few other days with 23+ km I’m sure it still averages to 20km per day. It’s been a lot of work but I admit I have really been enjoying the walks.

Now here is where I get into a bit of trouble. I know that I need a recovery day but my head is saying yes, but you still have to hit your goals. Seriously, this brain of mine obsesses over things like that. Somehow I will have failed the entire week if just one of those goal rings is not closed tomorrow. But I am pushing back on this. My legs need a break which means I need to convince myself that only walking a gentle 10km tomorrow is sufficient. And when I say gentle it means not beating myself up if my pace is lower than what I try to have it at. Trust me, every time my watch announces my pace if it is lower than the goal in my head I obsess over getting it faster. You’d think because of this I wouldn’t enjoy my walks but really I do.

And so tomorrow, I am going to sleep in a little. I am then going to enjoy a leisurely walk and take in the beauty of the waterfront. Instead of obsessing about those rings not being closed, I’m going to focus on the fact I might get to see that whale. Hopefully that will allow me to distract myself.