March motivation: A quarter in a month

I had so many amazing plans for a motivated, positive start to 2022. But here I am, at the start of the third month of the first quarter of the year and I’ve done nothing very little. Indeed, I am so far behind on most of my goals, that my stats make it look like it’s still January!

My slow start to the year is down to my extended American holiday after my mother’s unexpected illness and death. Yes, no matter how obsessed I may seem with step counts, running miles, and everything else, my family is far more important and will always come before Garmin metrics! My extended stay also meant that I was triaging work-related tasks and delaying a range of personal goals and ambitions.

On returning to Scotland three weeks ago, my priorities were placed on jetlag recovery and catching up with work tasks that had been put on hold. Instead of pushing to hit my mileage or step count goals, I concentrated on getting my workload under control. And, to a lesser extent, on getting my eating habits back on track.

But now it’s time to get my goals and my physical fitness back on track. And what better time to start a new outlook than the start of a new month?

I am behind on my walking and my running and my step counts. I am behind on my leisure reading and I haven’t even begun my family recipe plans or my list of 2022 projects. Oh, and I missed my annual February letter-writing month altogether!

(It’s not all doom and gloom: I am slightly ahead on my geocaching goals. Yay!)

My hope is that I can catch up on everything this month so that I can hit my quarterly goals. But the reality is that it will take a little longer than a month to get back on track. So, my more reasonable plan is to start making traction by exceeding my monthly goals so that there is less catching up to do next month and the months after that. (But if I do it right, I will be on track by the end of the second quarter. I think.)

There are three movement-based goals I will be focusing on in March: Step counts, running miles, and walking miles.

Step counts: I need to average 375,000 steps per month and had a deficit of 367,489 steps in January and February. That means that I would need 642,489 steps in March to catch up. Yeah, that’s not going to happen! However, with my ambitious running and walking goals, I expect that I will start to make a dent in those numbers.

Running miles: I need to average 62.5 miles per month and had a deficit of 67.7 miles in January and February. That means I would need 130+ running miles in March to catch up. I don’t know that I can manage the full brunt of that deficit this month, but I am aiming for 100+ miles. This will be helped along with an aim to run a half marathon each week, in addition to the rest of my running. If I can manage at least 25 miles each week, I can get close to back on track.

Walking miles: The goal is 365 miles of (intentional) walking which means a mile a day. I had a deficit of 18.5 miles in January and February meaning I need 48.5 miles of walking in March to catch up. If the weather cooperates, I think that I can manage this one with relative ease by walking home from the office a couple of times, going on a long geocache walk, and even just walking into the village a couple of times each week.

But motivating myself throughout March isn’t just about catching up on these movement goals. It’s also about getting back into good routines in general: A return to my “healthy” lunch and dinner options, regular yoga and breathing practice, letter-writing, arts and crafts, and everything else in between.

At the same time, I am trying to accept that some goals might not happen this year. Or they will have to be altered in some fashion. Again, this is in part due to my extended visit to America and another long trip I’ll be making later this year. But as my goals are generally set as a way of ensuring I am living my life to its fullest, they must be flexible to adapt to the ebbs and flows of life.

One step at a time, and I’ll get there… I hope! And if I don’t, at least I can say I’ve tried.