1-2-3 Sundays: Meditation, Content Creation & Lifting

1 Theme

Flexible Planning

There's a whiteboard in our kitchen where our weekly plans go:

• Dinners
• Plans for each day
• Training schedule
• Shopping and to-do list

It isn't the be-all and end-all though.

A few things have come up this week meaning we've had to move some items around.

As my runs are getting longer, I decided to go to work earlier so I could leave earlier.

Rather than train legs the following morning, I waited until the evening when I properly fuelled and recovered from the run the night before.

Routine and structure are great however there will be a time when something unexpected comes up.

You may as well be best prepared to deal with these changes.  

2 Positive Outcomes

Content Creation

I took some time to reflect on what my goals are and realised that they require me to be consistent on social media (duh).

As I said last week - I haven't been doing so.

This week I've pulled my finger out:

• A bonus blog post
• The same article above also went out on Medium
• Twitter thread
• 2 LinkedIn posts

I'm moving in the direction of where I want to be.

A tool I've found useful is planning out my writing sessions on a Sunday for the week ahead.

e.g X evenings during the week of 30-45 minutes of writing

I'll move them about if needed to suit my schedule however they are non-negotiable.

2 Years of Meditation

26th April marks my 2 year anniversary of meditation.

I started during the first lockdown with the intention of going for a month. I continued on without missing a day for over 18 months until November 2021.

You can see what I learned during that time here.

My current streak is over 160 days.

I've used both Headspace and Insight Timer - both of which I'd recommended.

Headspace has excellent guided sessions (Andy Puddicombe's voice is hella relaxing) while Insight Timer is ideal if you only need a timer to track how long you meditate.

3 Things I've Learned

Meditation Is A Long Game

When you train physically the results often show fairly quickly. A 12-week block in a calorie deficit with adequate training can get you decent results.

Mediation isn't like this.

It's a long process that requires patience and commitment.

You aren't suddenly enlightened after 3 months.

It takes longer to see the benefits in your life.

They're subtle however with increased awareness you'll notice them.

Building the habit of meditation is the hardest part.  

Don't Overdo It

It's estimated over 50% of regular runners get injured each year.

That could be from Iliotibial (IT) band friction syndrome which usually comes from weak glutes (don't worry I've been doing my hip thrusts and squats).

The IT band is made of fibrous tissue and runs from your bum to your shin.

Another common injury is stress fractures in the shin or feet. This sounds sore.

Thankfully, I've not experienced any of these.

*touch wood*

The best method I've found is to control the volume of running and not go mental and increase the likelihood of injury.

I had a run planned for Saturday however my legs felt tanked this week so I decided to give them a few days to recover.

There are bigger runs coming at me next week.

Instead, I went to the gym to train upper body and an OHP PR.

There's something oddly satisfying about lifting big weights over your head.

Try Something New (And Make It Better)

Aimee and I made a new dish for dinner this week.

The photo on the Insta page where we saw it looked tasty.

It didn't turn out as expected.

If we do it again we'd need to make some tweaks despite following the instructions as per the caption.

Having an open mind to a new experience or situation can be scary.

We have expectations and hopes of what we expect to see.

Leaning and rolling with the punches is what it takes.

You can always come back swinging.  

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