A Running Habit

“It does not matter how successful or unsuccessful you are right now. What matters is if the habits you have are putting you towards the path to success. Good habits make time your ally. Bad habits make time your enemy.”

I was having a conversation with one of my good friends I grew up with. And we were talking about how if you’re not in a good workout routine before your 30s, its going to be damn hard to get started with the busyness of life your 30s typically bring, buying a house, starting a family, etc. Not only that, but your metabolism is also slowing by the day, so the ability to burn fat, getting into good shape, and low energy levels will make it even harder. So, if you’re in your 20s, lock into this newsletter, specifically this book, because the best time to create good habits was yesterday!

Atomic Habits by James Clear is a top tier book that I’ve read. And I know not everyone believes they have time to read books day in and day out. Welp, I got you. Here is a quick break down of some of the lessons from the book so you can apply them in your own life.

In life, we have things we can control and things we can’t control. Focusing on the things we can control can help you shape the life that you want instead of the outside world controlling and directing where your life is going. Your outcomes in life are actually a lagging measure of your habits. Your bank account is a lagging measure of your financial habits. Your knowledge is a lagging measure of your learning and reading habits (a great habit you’re already building reading this newsletter). Your weight and health is a lagging measure of your eating and workout habits. We think the thing that needs to change is the number on the scale, or the number in the bank account. But in reality the thing that needs to change are the habits that proceed the outcome.

Think about it like this. Every action you take, is a vote for the person you want to become. The small action you take, running a quarter of a mile won’t necessarily make you the most aerobically fit, but it does cast a vote to being a person that works out. The goal isn’t to run a marathon, the goal is to become a runner. Once you’ve accepted that identity change, you’re not really pursuing behavior change, you are acting in alignment with the type of person you already see yourself to be.

The next big tool in creating a good habit is scaling habits down. Make them as easy as possible. Meaning, don’t plan to go to the gym to work out every morning at 5 am for 2 hours if you haven’t worked out in 3 years. Answer the question, can you stick to this habit 98% of the time without fail? If you have to say no to this, then it’s probably too big to start.

Lastly in forming good habits, the goal isn’t to focus on the exercise habit. The habit you should focus on is putting on your workout clothes. For example, my mornings go two ways. When my alarm goes off, I either put on my workout clothes and running shoes immediately and go workout. Or I press snooze, say I will work out in 9 minutes after the snooze, and end up just repeat snoozing until it’s too late to work out and I have go to class or work. It’s not mastering the habit of exercising you must focus on. It’s mastering the entry point to the workout (putting on the workout clothes). And making this as easy as possible will help you hold a good habit. Turning off the option to snooze (if someone knows how please tell me how), having your workout clothes already out and ready.

If you’re having trouble changing a bad habits, the problem isn’t you. The problem is your system. Organize your environment, change your community to make sure the next chunk of time is productive towards your end goal. Master the entry points, to master your habits, to master your goals.

The root of bad habits typically brings immediate pleasure with the ultimate reward of punishment. The root of good habits brings immediate cost or pain (working out) but the ultimate reward is a healthy body. The big lesson from this book is the cost of your good habits is in the present and the cost of your bad habits is in the future. Focus on environment design, scale your habits down, and master the entry point. If you’re interested in reading, you can get this book on my favorite app Libby. If you want a physical copy and don’t want to wait a long time to read the book, you can get the book with this link!

Running

Three years ago if you would have told me I was going to run the NYC marathon in 2024, I would’ve thought you were insane. But soon enough running just became a habit and now I hate going a week without running.

A lot of people have asked me how to get started with running. Or they ask how do you get to longer distance because after a mile or 2 they’re dead tired. The one thing I would have to say about this is think about the first time you went to the weight room or the first time you wrote your name. Or maybe the first day at a new job. You’re not good, it feels awkward, uncomfortable. But as time went on, you got better, your writing got a little neater, your job got easier, and the weights felt lighter and your form got better. Running is the same way. My first runs sucked. They were hard, my legs were heavy, and it took time to learn how to control my breathing. I remember two years ago I did a turkey trot 10k and afterwards I was dead tired. I couldn’t move! A couple weeks ago I just ran more than 4X that distance at a faster pace! Stick through the struggle! I promise you, you reach this great feeling when you run and all the distances start to feel the same. To this day, my first two miles I think, ugh this is rough, but then I get into the flow and I feel great.

Enough about my running journey. Well, fine-fine, if you’re interested in how the NYC marathon went, twist my arm, I guess I can keep talking about it. Check it out at the bottom of this post. But here are three big reasons for why running could be for YOU or why YOU should get back into running if you once ran: Cardiovascular System, Musculoskeletal System, Mental Health.

Cardiovascular System

You’ve probably heard that running is good for you, but why is running good for your heart? When you go for a run, your heart has to pump more blood to your muscles to work properly. And when you run consistently, your heart becomes more efficient at pumping this blood throughout your body. This is known as improving your stroke volume which is the amount of blood pumped per heart beat.

In the United States, there are A LOT of bad food options. This ultimately increases our cholesterol having a negative impact on our cardiovascular system. But, running can improve our cholesterol. Basically, there are two types cholesterol, HDL (good) and LDL (bad). Running causes our body to make more good cholesterol, which carries fat to our liver and reduces the bad cholesterol, which likes to carry fat into our arteries and clog them. When your arteries are clogged, this leads to high blood pressure, heart attacks, and strokes.

With a more efficient heart, your blood circulation also improves which enhances blood flow to muscles and organs (including your skin). This is why we see a lot of older people who are still active with good healthy skin versus others who aren’t as active.

Musculoskeletal System

Yes, running is a workout and good for your body. But outside of my own personal health, I was very aware of this when I worked at LYMBR as a stretch therapist. Heres why:

When a new client came in for a stretch, I could tell who stayed active versus who was not active just based off of our thirty minute stretch. Actually, I knew within the first 5 minutes. And thats because our muscles are somewhat like rubber bands. When you run or lift weights or do some type of physical activity consistently, your muscles stay elastic and can stretch well and give a bouncier feeling when stretched. When someone is not active, that rubber band type feeling in the muscle switches over to plastic. When stretched, it feels like a brick wall. These muscles become stiff and weak. Thats because they’ve switched over to chronically shortened muscles. And this can lead to a lot of aches and pains because your muscles aren’t moving as well as they once did.

Mental Health

Personally, I have benefited the most in my mental health from running. Outside of boosted self esteem of identifying as a runner and an active person, there is actual physical changes that occur in our brain that improves our mental health when we run.

Running increases endorphins which are hormones that reduce pain and produce feelings of happiness and euphoria. Consistent running increases the availability of serotonin and dopamine, which help regulate mood, motivation and overall feelings of well-being. Running reduces levels of cortisol which is the body’s primary stress hormone and leads to decrease stress and anxiety.

I’m sure we’ve all have laid awake at night stressed out or anxious and can’t sleep. Running improves the quality of and duration of sleep by reducing overactive thoughts that may cause insomnia. Lastly, running promotes the regulation of the amygdala which is a region in the brain responsible for fear and stress responses.

Dont hesitate to reach out to me to ask about starting your own running journey! Remember, the goal isn’t to run a marathon, the goal is to become a runner!

This weeks Podcast → Pivot Podcast with Tom Brady

 Email me with any questions on your mental or physical health as well as mindset!!!

NYC Marathon 

My start time was 9:10 and the start village is in Staten Island, which I had to take the subway to the ferry to a bus just to get there. I got up at 5 and packed two PB&Js, 2 cuties, a Gatorade, and a Celsius. This was my pre-race meal throughout the morning. I had GU packs to take down throughout the race. I planned to eat them at Miles 4,8,12,16,20, and 23. I also had a hand held water bottle. Heres a link to the GUs if you want the same ones!

This was my wave at the start line (50k+ runners ran this year). The first mile was all up hill going over a bridge. The second mile was all down hill going down the bridge and at this point I unfortunately had to pee (I drank way too much before the race, don’t make the same mistake). Once we got off the bridge I saw a bunch of guys in a line off the side of the bridge going pee but I decided to wait and hope the feeling would go away… It did not. At mile 5 I had to stop at a port-a-potty to go. Luckily in the NYC Marathon theres port-a-potties at each mile marker.

The energy in Queens and Brooklyn were electric. Tens of thousands of people lined up with crazy signs and even drum lines playing! Some crazy signs I saw:

“Run like P Diddy is coming”

“Never trust a fart after mile 16”

“Smile if you sharted”

“Where is everyone going?”

“Hurry up my arms are getting tired”

Here is a picture I took at mile 8 and sent to my group chat from college. The energy was amazing and I was loving life.

At mile 9 in Brooklyn, I had friends waiting to cheer me on. If your planning to run a marathon, I highly recommend having friends at different points throughout the race. This gave me a boost of energy and was excited to keep running.

At mile 16 I saw my dad and brother and got another boost of energy, now in Manhattan. Going through Manhattan I felt I needed some more energy so I ate a couple orange slices some kids were handing out. Definitely helped.

Once I got into the Bronx with 6 miles left I wanted to pick up the speed I was feeling great… But… as soon as I did I started to cramp in my low back, my calves, my quads, my hamstrings, and in my butt. I didn’t stop running but I took shorter strides and slowed down so the cramps wouldn’t spasm too much for me to stop.

Luckily, a couple guys came to my rescue and they were handing out bananas. Bananas contain potassium and calcium which play a role in muscle contraction. When these are low, its hard for your body to regulate muscle contractions which is why cramps (muscle spasms) occur. The bananas helped get rid of my cramps and I felt strong going back into Manhattan to finish the race.

This was at the end. I ran a 3:33 which is about a 8:09 pace per mile. And honestly, this marathon was one of the best days of my life. It gave that feeling you get before a big game again and I loved it.

Again, your friends and family help carry you through the marathon so if your thinking about doing one, I highly recommend having the support!

I did sign up for the Chicago marathon next because I have a goal to run the 7 major marathons! I will be running with the Pat Tillman Foundation. Here I’m going to try to qualify for Boston (sub 2:50 marathon). Which is an insane time I know. But at the end of the day its all mental and how dedicated you are to training. I’ll definitely keep you updated in my training for this insane goal! As well as the Pat Tillman Foundation!