QT: To Change Things Up or Not, That is the Question

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How do you know when it’s time to change things up?

At times, the answer is obvious.

But more often than not, it’s a little fuzzy.

And sometimes, we humans are just too dense to recognize the forest for the trees.

An Honest Assessment

Before deciding if changing things up is the smart move, you first need to take an honest assessment of what you’ve been doing.

Is what you’re doing working?

Are you making progress?

Are you enjoying the process?

These are a few of the questions that you need to ask yourself before deciding whether or not to overhaul your system.

More of the Same

In some cases, you’ll assess the situation and come to the conclusion that what you’re doing is working.

When that’s the case? When you’ve got a good thing going?

Changing things up probably doesn’t make much sense.

Broke? Fix It!

Other times, you’ll look at the situation and realize that things just aren’t working right now.

And once you look a little harder at the specifics, you realize that doing the same thing better isn’t the answer either.

In this case?

Don’t Be Daft

Humans are funny creatures.

I’m not going to get too existential here, but we as a species seem to have an inate ability to get in our own way.

And runners? Yeah, we are fully human on this front.

As you’re considering whether or not a change would do you good, here are some situations that could trip you up if you’re not careful.

Impatience

Many physical changes take time.

A lot of time.

Maybe not quite that much time, but close.

If you made a change to your training recently, there may be progress being made that you’re simply unaware of at this point.

Give any changes you make enough time to actually show whether they work or not before you decide to change things up again.

Some is Good, More is Better

If what you’re doing is working, doing more would work better, right?

In certain facets of life, this could be true.

But not really in running.

If what you’re doing is working, keep doing it.

And guess what? You’ll keep making progress.

Maybe a couple of tweaks around the edges could be helpful, maybe, but there’s no reason for a major overhaul to your routine.

When Life Changes

Sometimes everything is going well and you’re good to keep on keeping on, until life happens.

In these instances, it’s important to realize that more of the same, no matter how well it’s working, simply isn’t feasible any longer.

As such, changing things up is the only option.

Whether you like it or not.

Most Choices Can Be Undone

The good news, when it comes to changing or not, is that even if you get the decision wrong, odds are you can undo it.

That doesn’t mean that there are no downsides to fumbling this decision, because there can be.

But when you start to realize that maybe you made a mistake, the only person stopping you from correcting said mistake is you.

So fix the mistake and get back to work!

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How do you know if it's the time to change things up in your training routine? #runchat Share on X

When was the Last Time You Changed Your Routine? Why Did You Make the Change?

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