I read something a while ago that January 17th is the worst day of the year.
Now bear with me on this… it was based on a formula dreamt up by a mathematician (which doesn’t fill me with confidence) that took into account various parameters and variables. Whether or not January 17th is in fact the worst day of the year isn’t really the point – it might be the 22nd, or the 19th, or it might be at some other time depending on personal circumstances – however, I quite liked the reasoning – and it went a bit like this….
Christmas has just been and gone – all the anticipation and ceremony that goes with that, the family days, the presents, the food and the overindulging has now passed us by. The all night party that was New Years Eve is done and dusted. Decorations are down and the tyranny of the New Years Resolutions have started.
Well – resolutions started – but by the time January 17th rolls around, the vast majority of resolutions have probably gone by the wayside. The thought of all the good intentions after the holiday – now up in smoke – certainly make people realise just how little self control they might have had.
So party season is over.
Resolutions made in good faith are mainly in tatters… 17 days into a diet, a promised bi-weekly gym routine, an everyday running challenge – or abstinence from alcohol or chocolate is generally a pretty dire place to find yourself….
This feeling, coupled with the fact that daylight starts waaay after you get up and probably finishes before you get home from work makes it all the worse. Not only that, but the weather is probably pretty rubbish and the next big holiday (especially if you have kids) seems like a loooooong time away.
When you actually start to think about it, maths or not, the 3rd week of January can well seem like a bit of a downer, which is why I’m going to try to shift a gear and make it one of the most positive and forward looking weeks of this month. I didn’t really make any New Years Resolutions, so I can’t sit down and re-write, or re-configure or recommit to them.
However, I have written down a load of things that I want to get done this year. Some of them have a timeline (races and sportives tend to have specific dates attached to them), but others are a little more nebulous.
During this week I’ll be taking a bit more control of the nebulous ideas and giving them more body – more reality. I’ll be looking at the races and sportives I have entered and making sure that my training schedule is built well to accommodate them. I’ll be thinking about holidays and places to visit – anything to improve my mood, to lift the weight of the fact there isn’t a lot of sunlight, and to buck the trend of this week being the low point of the year.
What are you doing to make this week a high point of the month?
If you made resolutions, have a race to aim for or if the gym sessions are already starting to drag then you might consider treating yourself to a block of personal training sessions to reignite your motivation and accountability.
If you’re still trying to ignore/manage/train through a niggle then our physio treatments are what you need to get booked in – one session is often all you need to ensure rehab and training are being done intelligently.