Level up.

First time on the cross-trainer

We progress again, much to my delight.

On seeing Ruth last Friday we have managed to advance once again. However, this was no progression we had seen before.

I don't consider the work I have done since my surgery as "training", it has simply been rehab, working on getting myself back to normal life and some sort of fitness. Ruth has now added enough exercises into my program for my S&C coach, Andy, to come up with three sessions to do throughout the week - my long-awaited return to TRAINING!

We've got loaded single leg squats, loaded step ups, loaded lunges, hip thrusts, band walks, deadlifts (YAY!), trampoline jumps, cross training, I COULD GO ON, would you believe?

This is something I am beyond excited about. I am training again!

I was so excited to get to my training session yesterday (Monday) evening to see what Andy had lined up for me. We discussed the exercises that Ruth had sent me prior to the session, so Andy knew what I was capable of and he managed to develop a program around this personalized to work on getting the strength back. It's fair to say Andy didn't make things easy for me. My muscles are screaming at me today! But my god, have I missed this feeling. Hard work feels good!

I am determined to get these next few weeks right. As Ruth told me, this is the time where we can't afford to make any mistakes. Loading too much means the risk of pain or an accident. Not doing enough will result in unequal muscle strength or weakness, something that cannot be risked at this point in time considering the goals I have in mind for the near future. However, I have every faith that Andy, Ruth and I are capable of achieving the ideal results over the upcoming weeks.

I'm due to see Ruth again in just less than two weeks, so it's a lot of hard work in the gym up until then.

I have got into the habit of setting micro-goals for each week, and its something I really would recommend to everyone.

As the name suggests, they don't have to be anything of sheer magnificence, they just have to matter to you. Something that you can review at the end of the week and smile because you did a little something to benefit you, to make you proud, to make a tiny change.

It's important to push yourself. Setting goals is showing a hunger to better yourself. But how many of the goals you set go unaccomplished? It's natural - we can't do absolutely everything we aspire to do! But just think for a moment about the goals you once set for yourself that you didn't achieve. Now ask yourself, 'Were they realistic?'

I imagine the answer is probably "No". If you set a goal that isn't tangible, the more likely it is to go unaccomplished. This is where the importance of micro-goals comes in. They are the little stepping stones you can take every day, every week, to get to that overall goal. No one is asking for something incredible every day, just baby steps to make a little difference. Like I said in my last blog, success doesn't have to be big - the little wins are still wins!

I wouldn't set myself the task of running a fast 400m in the next two months, because that will not happen. So what I am doing? I'm setting my micro-goals to get me towards the overall goal. Getting onto a treadmill, running confidently, getting back onto the track, completing a training session, coming out of blocks again. All these little goals may not seem like much as a single element, but they all add up to that main goal - a fast 400m in the future, that next international competition, the next title. Little steps in the right direction still go a long way and contribute to the end picture.

So I challenge you to join me this week and set yourself one (or more!) micro-goals. See what you can achieve this week, you never know, you might surprise yourself.