I have recently made some changes to my indoor cycling schedule. I’ve traded in my Saturday morning class for Sunday. I know, I’m surprised at myself too!
I’m happy that I am managing to still get in at least two classes a week, even without having an overwhelming amount of grrrr to get out on a daily basis like I used to. But every time I go to the gym on Sunday morning, I crack myself up. Here’s the thing:
Yesterday was a beautiful summer day in southern California. Around 9am I got in my car, drove one mile to the gym, and spent 45 minutes in a dark room taking an indoor cycling class. There is nothing about doing that which isn’t at least a little ridiculous. It felt like I was living in a scene from LA Story.
First, it’s barely a mile. And I don’t think that it is too much to expect that I can comfortably and safely walk there during daylight hours (I give myself a pass to drive when it is still dark out). Also, after 8am parking enforcement is in full effect. Either drive around for 10-15 minutes looking for a spot or pay to use the metered parking. If you’re going to spend 10-15 minutes driving around looking for a free parking spot (like I did), you may as well have walked.
Second, it was a beautiful day but here I was choosing to do my exercising inside. Not just inside, but in a dark room. I really can’t get over my own ridiculousness. If I had decided to go to the 8:30 class instead, I wouldn’t give myself such a hard time because that still counts as first thing in the morning on a Sunday. By 9:30, you should have already started your day (unless you had a big Saturday night, which I did not).
One important component for getting habits to stick is to make them automatic. There aren’t options, it is just what you do. I don’t spend any time thinking about how I’m going to get to the gym on any other day. But on Sundays I keep considering all the options. I should walk…maybe I could take my bike…then I have to dig it out of the garage…do I need air in my tires? And by the time I’ve run through the whole monologue, it’s late. I need to either decide ahead of time that I’m going to bike and make sure that everything is ready, or I need to take that option off of the table and just know that I’m going to walk.
The bottom line is that I still make it to indoor cycling at least twice a week and that is what really matters. But I can’t help but laugh at myself about how I get there.
Oh! The particularities of our lives.