From bobg@Radix.Net Sat May  6 13:10:02 EDT 2000

In article <memo.20000506144227.568C@indy139.hotmail.com>,
Scott Buchannan <indy139@hotmail.com> wrote:
>Whats the thing that makes one person get up at 5am in the morning and go 
>for a run week in week out, eat sensibly and keep up a good level of all 
>round fitness and yet another person when the alarm goes off turns it off 
>and goes back to sleep, eats junk food and is generally unfit yet knows 
>what has to be done to sort it yet never does it??

  Some illumination as I've, more or less, been on both sides of
the description.

  The key: It is a behavior pattern.  We're not talking about something
like surfing TV channels and deciding what to watch -- a situation where
you see all options and select one by merit*.  This is in the realm of
do you even watch TV versus read a book.      

  So, behavior pattern illustration.  Through high school, I was fairly
active.  Not exactly in any organized fashion, but there was phys ed 
daily from grade 8 through 12, and I did things on my own as the notion
occurred, including a fair amount of swimming in the summers (a few
hours a day in water over my head, though not doing laps typically).  
Along the way, cross country in 8th grade, and track in 12th (good and
sufficient reasons for there to be that gap).  Pretty active, and while
not in great shape, could still knock off a goodly number of push ups,
pullups, and situps (It was a bizarre experience, when the distance runners
went to the weightroom and I was one of the 'strong' men).

  Then came college.  I'd kept running about 3 times/week over the summer.
But, start college and the running deteriorated.  Schedule was 'too busy'
(it was certainly irregular), so I was off trying to study or whatever.
(There was a lot of 'whatever').  The habit got broken.  4 years of college,
and although I went for a number of walks, it never went back to running.
No major feedback like gaining a lot of weight to flag that I was getting
that badly out of shape.  Could still walk just fine, distance and pace.
So ... part of the behavior pattern: I figured I could start back up
'any time' and although I might have lost some from when I was in track,
surely I could still run a good mile, say comparable to what I ran at
the start of the season.  (i.e., self-deception).

  Go to grad school, more effort on study and more stress.  As it turned
out, also a much less attractive place to run (University of Chicago,
south side of Chicago).  Habit having been broken, didn't pick it back
up.  I did play some departmental basketball and was on the long
end of the endurance list for that, so figured again that if I started
running I should be able to pick up ok. (Also, side note, walked marathon
distance helping some friends in a fund-raiser.)  

  Finally, I got to being a postdoc (Penn. State) and towards thinking
about running again.  There were a number of folks in the department who
ran.  Played some more pickup basketball, and mostly just thought about
the running.  Talked to the Dr. about restarting, and was told that I 
should be able to walk 2 miles in 24 minutes before starting running.
I did so the next day.  Actually went running twice -- indoor track with
a couple of people in the department.  Two consecutive days, and then
not again.  There was no long-term behavior plan behind the running.
I hated that indoor track, and didn't pursue the outdoor options (which
there were many of, realistically speaking).

  If you're adding up, we're now about 10 years since I last ran regularly.
I'd kept up the routine walking (cross-campus), occasional basketball, 
and some miscellaneous swimming.  But nothing systematic, and nothing 
that really got aerobic (the walking never did get aerobic, the basketball 
was sprints so anerobic, and the swimming was too scattered).  Never 
got to a serious junk food habit, just never really exercised.  It was 
always something that I 'could' do, and still figured on starting back
up with an 'easy' 30 minute jog, maybe a track day with a mile in about
the early season HS time, ... a 'light' 20 mile week, in the first week
back.   

  I move again to the job I still have, and we get up to 15+ years
since track.  Still never put on the weight, still could walk goodly
distance and speed.  So, still figuring on restarting -- whenever that
was going to happen -- with 3-5 mile runs and raced miles only 30 
seconds off the HS times.  Self-deception is all.  I 'could' do
the 15-20 miles/week, if I decided to, so I didn't 'really' need to
actually go do the miles.  

  The bubble finally burst, and I started running regularly and have
maintained activity ever since.

  What it took was a pivotal experience.  That was, I was going to
get my daughter ready for baseball season on the 90 foot diamond by
running a few 30 yard sprints with her.  A few 30 yarders compared to
the 10x100 that we'd do in track at the _end_ of a practice?  Absolutely
nothing.  No effort, right?  Finished 3 of the 30's and felt completely 
spent.

  _That_ got me going regularly.  That is when I realized that 15+ years
of not running means more than 'might run 5:50 instead of 5:30 in the mile'.
And it means more than 'might have to start with 'only' 15 miles/week'.
What it meant was, I have gotten in to seriously bad shape and it is
going to take _consistent_ _regular_ and _progressive_ exercise to get
back towards decent shape.

  I also realized, at that point, that I had to work on the behavior
modification side of getting running.  'I'm in terrible shape (now)'
was a sufficient reason to try to break the pattern, but it couldn't
carry me through the weeks and work of establishing a new pattern.

  For the new pattern, I drew up (literally) my list of _why_ exactly
I wanted to be running and what my priorities were in getting back to
it.  In missing a day that I was going to have run, I looked again 
at the list.  And days did get missed.  The other thing the list
did was help me decide _how_ to get back in to running.  Run/walk
for 20-30 minutes was not going to fit the list (I could already
walk an hour at a good clip and not take the pulse over 120).  So
I started by repeated 30 yarders, then 50's, then 100's, and built
up that way.  It fit my list, though I wouldn't recommend it for
anyone else (unless their list matched mine in exquisite detail).
Something like 6 weeks before I ran a mile, and it was certainly
not at the 5:50 I'd been telling myself the previous 15+ years I
was going to restart with.

  Now, finally, 3+ years back, and I've got running (or some
kind of exercise) as a standard part of life.  It is now in the
behavior pattern.  Not running for an extended period (3 days
at this point) simply feels _wrong_.   

  So, in a sense, three lengthy anecdotes.  For me, it felt like
it worked out as changes in behavior patterns.  I suspect that
many of those reaching for the donut (which, by the way, I do
as well; it is just that I don't stop with that) figure they 
_could_ do the exercise.  They haven't hit their pivotal event
yet.  Self-image has not crashed into reality in a way that
matters to them.

  My experience is why I don't stress to people starting or
restarting the details of running schedules (though I'm quite
happy to do so with folks trying to beat goal times) -- because
until the behavior pattern gets changed, the details are irrelevant.
Getting out and exercising regularly is _the_ biggest step. 
(A notion supported by some research as well.)

  Having mentioned the TV vs. a book: All right, all you athletes
taking care of the body, are you doing the same level to exercise
your mind?  5-20 hours/week of mentally challenging developmental
activity?  Rhetorical question only, though anyone who wants 
ideas for getting in to this different 'exercise' regime is welcome
to email me.  I've got a million (well, maybe somewhat fewer) ideas.
(Some on hand because I'm not using them.)

  Point being, as we sit here in a physical fitness oriented 
group, it is easy to collectively point fingers (I don't take
the original questioner to be doing so, rather that he has a 
question in trying to understand other people) at folks who
aren't doing much for their physical fitness.  Before spending
much time on that process, let's consider how well _we_ are
doing on other areas.  In fact, let's skip the finger pointing
entirely and go straight to looking at ourselves.

  Mens rea in corpora sano, or some such.


*Stop that laughing, merit and TV being in the same sentence.  You know
what I mean.  I've been leaving the thing off even more lately, which 
is helping with the r.o.l. situations.  TV induces, as Calvin said, a
lower state of consciousness.
-- 
Robert Grumbine http://www.radix.net/~bobg/ Science faqs and amateur activities notes and links.
Sagredo (Galileo Galilei) "You present these recondite matters with too much 
evidence and ease; this great facility makes them less appreciated than they 
would be had they been presented in a more abstruse manner." Two New Sciences