I used to think that waking up before 10am was impressive.
I envied those who were up at 6am and had already accomplished more than I would that entire day.
I always thought “One day” but put off taking ownership and making the changes necessary to start living the reality I had envisioned.
It took me years of practice and mindfulness to implement healthy habits and undo old patterns that no longer served me.
It wasn’t until I started a career that finally offered me a sense of purpose and fulfillment and one that I worked hard that I began making small, but monumental decisions that helped shape me into the man I am today.
Life is the kitchen is built on structure and timing. I’m someone who loves structure and found comfort in repetition but refining the details day in and day out.
But there is no progress with comfort.
Let’s take my history of running for example;
Senior Year of High School.
I clocked a whopping 18 minute mile because I decided to walk to avoid being uncomfortable. We were supposed to run a 2 mile test that year to which I still owe. Sorry Mr. Lester!
College.
Working night shift at the local health club resulted in 2am “workouts” and the occasional mile run on the treadmill. Headphones with my choice of music was a game-changer but I still held a comfortable pace at #11. Whatever #11 means on a treadmill.
Post-college and start of Redefining who Nick was.
One night after a long shift in the kitchen, my Chef was challenging kitchen staff to a 200m sprint. I grew up skateboarding, snowboarding and surfing and believed I had strong legs. I hadn’t yet started CrossFit and this moment would give me a shift in my thinking. He kicked my ass and I thought to myself “One day I’ll get faster.”
Beginning of CrossFit.
400m Runs would kick my ass and I would walk portions during the workout. I thought to myself “One day I’ll complete a workout with running and not have to walk.” The only running I would do would be whatever was prescribed in the workout of the day. I held on to the old belief that “running is stupid” but enjoyed that I was slowly improving due to variance in training.
Four years of CrossFit training.
After completing many running workouts, Murph and various Hero WODs, I finally decided to challenge myself and sign up for a 5k run. Leading up to the event in September 2018, I still had residual “running is stupid” thoughts and stuck to strictly CrossFit training in preparation for the run. I ended up enjoying every step of the run, gained a few blisters, placed in my age group and immediately thought to myself “One day I’ll run further.” I was sore and tired but proud that I finally was putting into practice the actions to reflect the man I knew I could become.
Post 5k to Today.
Immediately after completing the 5k in 2018, Jill and I went down a running and racing rabbit hole. In 2019 we completed nine 5k runs, participated in our first Duathlon (on mountain bikes, lesson learned), ran a Spartan Super on Saturday and 10k Trail run the next day, completed the Tim Kerr 7 mile run and I ran my first 5k w/ a stroller! Each time we thought to ourselves, “One day we will run further.”
Although 2020 put a hold on some of our race plans (Spartan Trifecta, Rock n Roll ½ Marathon and others), we were able to squeeze in the Dallas Hot Chocolate 5k and I completed my first endurance event the Loopy Looper. We had 12 hours to accumulate as many 3.7 mile loops as possible as a team. I ran 4 loops (14.8 miles), walk/jogged a 5th and as a team we completed 20 loops (75 miles) throughout the day. The same blisters and soreness I felt after my first 5k quickly arrived, but I thought to myself “One day I’ll run further.”
Progress doesn’t happen overnight and habits can change.
