😌 My life became simplified

Training for a triathlon requires time. Time is rare in a schedule that already includes a full-time job and family duties. So, to fit everything that is required to effectively train, it was extremely important that I understood my priorities clearly. What were the things in my life that I was willing to sacrifice? I decided that my training, my wife (and dog), and my career were the three things that I absolutely could not neglect. Some things I was willing to sacrifice was my social life, alcohol, junk food and staying up late. After a month of living these priorities I found that my life became amazingly simplified. My focus was clear. Distractions didn’t exist.

💤 My quality of sleep automatically improved

After the first couple of days of workouts, my sleep dramatically improved. Most days, early mornings were the only times I was able to fit in my workouts. By 5:30 AM I was either at the gym or on the bike or run so that I could get to work on time. Because of this schedule, I started going to bed earlier (around 8:30-9:00 PM). Going to bed earlier wasn’t something I had to force. I was naturally getting more tired earlier due to the early mornings and increased physical activities. I began to have longer restful nights and woke up feeling ready to attack the day.

🍎 Diet and recovery became extremely important

When I used to work out casually my diet didn’t really seem to matter. As long as I didn’t do anything extreme the night before, I always felt sufficiently fueled for a simple run or bike. But when I started to increase my mileage, intensity and frequency of workouts, my diet became a lot more of a factor. If I didn’t eat or hydrate right, I would feel noticeably exhausted throughout the day or during a workout. I had to be a lot more aware of what I ate before and after workouts. Some days I had 2 workouts to complete so it was important that after my first workout, I was keeping my body sufficiently rested and fueled so that I could successfully complete my second workout.

🏃🏻 Leaps in physical performance

If you consistently workout then you’ll see improvement. I guess this is somewhat expected but it still surprised me. This is why I love physical challenges. There’s always tangible improvement that you can see and measure. After the first couple of weeks of training, every aspect of my physical performance was improving massively. My mileage was increasing at a steady rate and my overall speed on the bike and run were also on an upward trend. I used Strava and Garmin Connect to help track my progress throughout this journey.

💪 Increase in confidence

This was probably the biggest win. Every week I was proving to myself that I could do more than I thought I could. I was running and biking further and faster. I was becoming extremely efficient with my time. I was proving to myself that I could be incredibly disciplined and focused on my goals. I was constantly hitting physical goals each week. Each day my confidence grew. Each day I felt like I improved. I was becoming a machine.

To experience some of these benefits you don’t have to train for a triathlon. I’m challenging you to start with a simple task. One that requires daily attention. One that will improve your life even by 1%. The main goal should be to achieve extreme discipline. Can you continue to do something even when you don’t want to? Even when everyone says “just take a break”?