QT: A Little Change Can Be a Good Thing
How do you feel about changing things up?
As you might be aware, I’m a fan of a good routine and sticking with the status quo.
I’m not sure that I necessarily fear change, but I am sure that I don’t very often like change.
Yet, sometimes change is a necessary thing…
When to Make a Change
Change for the sake of change?
That’s the kind of change I’m not a fan of at all. This is especially true when things are going well.
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it, right?
Yes. And no.
Time to Consider Making a Change
As runners, there may come a time that we need to change things up even if all seems like it’s going well.
A few examples?
If You Get Bored
If running ever moves from fun to boring or monotonous, it’s time to change something in your training/racing schedule.
Running needs to be fun. Always.
Sure, there may be some days/workouts that are less than enjoyable.
But if running in general becomes something that you’re no longer excited about, it’s time to make a change.
Jump in a shorter race. Mix up your workout schedule/routine. Run with some friends.
Changing up the routine when you get bored with what you’re doing just makes sense.
Stuck on a Plateau
If you find yourself no longer making progress toward your running goals, that’s a good sign that it’s time for a change.
It could mean that what you’ve been doing is no longer enough of a challenge to stimulate continued growth.
Or, it could mean that you’re over-training, and in order to resume making progress you need tot back off a little bit.
Either way, a prolonged lack of progress is a good sign that some change would be beneficial.
A New Challenge
Sometimes you may find yourself simply wanting to try something new.
If you’ve been training for marathons for awhile, as an example, maybe a shift in focus (either short or long term) is what you need.
And depending on what new challenge you decide to take on, changing up your training routine would be a good idea.
Obviously, your training should be centered around what you’re working toward.
If you’re tackling a new challenge, changing up your training just makes sense.
A Little Change is Coming
If you’ve been paying attention, you know that I’m thinking about changing up the frequency of the shows.
Starting next week, I’m cutting the Wednesday episode from the schedule and going back to two episodes per week.
Monday’s will continue to be interview episodes. Friday’s will continue to be quick tip episodes, and the last Friday of each month will be the Listener Q&A episode of the month.
Is it a permanent change?
Maybe.
We will see how things shake out.
If it ends up being a positive change, it’ll stick around.
If it isn’t positive? Then I’ll switch back to three episodes per week.
That’s the beauty of this change: it’s basically an experiment that I can undo if the results aren’t what I hope.
Why the Change, Diz?
The reason I’m planning to cut back the number of episodes per week has nothing to do with being bored with the podcast or the show having plateaued.
I really enjoy talking to different runners and the show is definitely still growing.
I don’t want to stop the show completely, but I do want to free up a little more time to focus on some other things.
If I’m going to write Marathons and Metaphors in the next 6–12 months, I need more time to write and edit and get it ready.
I would like to dust off my YouTube channel again, after about a 3 year hiatus, and I need more time to do that.
There are a handful of courses I’d like to create, but course creation takes time that I don’t have currently.
If I cut out one interview of the podcast per week, I’m freeing up somewhere between 10 and 12 hours for myself each month.
Those 10–12 hours? I’ll be focused on writing, shooting videos, and creating courses.
That’s why I’m changing things up with the podcast: I need more time and bandwidth to focus on some other projects for the time being.
Fair enough?
Originally published at http://www.dizruns.com on July 12, 2019.