Wave goodbye to those lofty New Year's resolutions that never stick and say hello to turning big dreams into daily habits with us, Sean Blinch and Michelle—your guides to a fitter, happier you. This episode is a goldmine for anyone who's ever found themselves scribbling ambitious fitness goals but come February, can't even find the pen. We're swapping out over-the-top aspirations for realistic, bite-size actions, because let's face it, prepping for a triathlon doesn't happen overnight. From maintaining a simple hydration streak to leveraging the psychological power of habit-building apps, we're laying down the foundation for a year where your fitness routine actually becomes routine.
Ready to lace up your sneakers for the Gravenhurst triathlon or just aiming to run your first full lap around the park? Our latest chat is all about the personal triumphs that come from pushing just a bit further each day. We give you the insider scoop on community events and training opportunities that'll have you biking, swimming, and running alongside fellow enthusiasts. Joining forces with Coach Karen for a cycling session or diving in with Coach Tara for a team swim not only offers guidance but fuels the camaraderie that keeps the spirit of competition friendly and your personal goals within reach.
As we wrap up, don't forget that our Zoom calls are the virtual place to be for anyone targeting races, be it a duathlon, a 10K, or the Gravenhurst triathlon. It's not all split times and race strategies; we're dishing out wisdom that transcends the track, keeping you in the loop with newsletters and community updates that will ensure 2024 is more than just a leap year—it's your leap forward. Join Michelle and me as we step into a year of shared victories, growth, and a community cheering you on at every mile marker. Here's to the progress we make each day and the wins we'll celebrate together.
🧠 This episode and more are available now on all streaming platforms. Check it out on Spotify, iTunes or http://podcast.redleaf.fit/
'𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐟 𝐅𝐢𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐏𝐨𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐲, 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞.
⛏️💎#KEEPGOING
Wave goodbye to those lofty New Year's resolutions that never stick and say hello to turning big dreams into daily habits with us, Sean Blinch and Michelle—your guides to a fitter, happier you. This episode is a goldmine for anyone who's ever found themselves scribbling ambitious fitness goals but come February, can't even find the pen. We're swapping out over-the-top aspirations for realistic, bite-size actions, because let's face it, prepping for a triathlon doesn't happen overnight. From maintaining a simple hydration streak to leveraging the psychological power of habit-building apps, we're laying down the foundation for a year where your fitness routine actually becomes routine.
Ready to lace up your sneakers for the Gravenhurst triathlon or just aiming to run your first full lap around the park? Our latest chat is all about the personal triumphs that come from pushing just a bit further each day. We give you the insider scoop on community events and training opportunities that'll have you biking, swimming, and running alongside fellow enthusiasts. Joining forces with Coach Karen for a cycling session or diving in with Coach Tara for a team swim not only offers guidance but fuels the camaraderie that keeps the spirit of competition friendly and your personal goals within reach.
As we wrap up, don't forget that our Zoom calls are the virtual place to be for anyone targeting races, be it a duathlon, a 10K, or the Gravenhurst triathlon. It's not all split times and race strategies; we're dishing out wisdom that transcends the track, keeping you in the loop with newsletters and community updates that will ensure 2024 is more than just a leap year—it's your leap forward. Join Michelle and me as we step into a year of shared victories, growth, and a community cheering you on at every mile marker. Here's to the progress we make each day and the wins we'll celebrate together.
🧠 This episode and more are available now on all streaming platforms. Check it out on Spotify, iTunes or http://podcast.redleaf.fit/
'𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐟 𝐅𝐢𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐏𝐨𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐲, 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞.
⛏️💎#KEEPGOING
Welcome back to another edition of the Red Leaf Fitness podcast, a show dedicated to bringing you stories, interviews and conversations about living a healthy, resilient and productive life. I'm your host, sean Blinch, and I want to thank you for making time to listen to this episode today and, if you like what we're putting down, we would love it if you would follow, rate and share this podcast. All right, now let's get down to business. Welcome back to the Red Leaf Fitness podcast. Sitting here with Michelle who's finishing an apple, but no pressure. As I was saying, no pressure.
Speaker 2:No pressure, just hurry up.
Speaker 1:No one must be nourished and ready. Okay, so here we are. Good to see you back on the one and two.
Speaker 2:We give the people what they want. Remember yeah that's right.
Speaker 1:So, first of all, big welcome back to all of our community. Welcome everyone to 2024 and beyond. We're excited to kick this year off. 2023 was a tough year, you know. There was, I don't know, a single person who wasn't dealing with something heavy. And here we are in a new year. A lot of people are in a really good place. We have a lot of big, great, exciting, fun goals that people have set, and we're happy to provide our guidance and support for those things. That's what we do. So, michelle and I wanted to hop on here with a new idea and we wanted to bring in practical solutions for your everyday goals.
Speaker 2:So here we are so here we are.
Speaker 1:Here we are Now. What better way to kick this thing off than to start with New Year's resolutions? So why don't you take it away first? With what do you think the problem is with New Year's resolutions?
Speaker 2:I think the biggest challenge for New Year's resolutions, or when people are thinking about them or setting them in my experience is they're often too big and too far removed from where people naturally are with their the rhythm of their life. So, for example, I'll use exercise as an example. Just because of our space, somebody does not exercise in any way at all, like it full stop, no movement at all in their day, and then they set a goal of their New Year's resolution will be I want to train six days a week. So I think the spirit of the goal is excellent and that's what should be kind of celebrated and worked on, but it needs to happen, in my opinion, and within like the confines of the reality of your life. So how do we take that goal and make it realistic so that someone can build momentum, build success and make that something that is actually going to be far beyond the parameters of the resolution?
Speaker 1:So if I was to come in and say, okay, I am let's use a real example I'm, I want to sign up for a Gravenhurst triathlon and I don't have a base, I'm that person where I'm really fired up. I'm so fed up with how things got here and I'm ready to make a change. Okay, what would you say to me? And I'm, and I'm saying to you I'm, I'm the guy I want to do six days a week.
Speaker 2:I would say I love this goal.
Speaker 2:I think it's.
Speaker 2:I love where it's coming from. I love that that you have this in your mind and let's take this enormous thing that we're we're talking about and we're going to make it really small, and not small in that we're minimizing the goal. We're making it into daily habits and smaller components that will lead you to that big goal. So, instead of saying I'm now going to cycle three times a week and run three times a week and um and swim three times a week and I'm going to weight train and I'm going to stretch and I'm going to overhaul my nutrition and my sleep and my job and all the things that let's assume this person has three kids and they have. The kids are at that age where they're doing a bunch of crap. Um, instead of doing that, I'm going to say, okay, what's something we can do this week and we're going to focus on this week and we're going to take that big goal and make it smaller, and it and again that's what I mean by smaller was not minimizing it. We're making it into manageable, digestible components.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, for years you and I have been about this idea that success drives motivation. And when it comes to success, we have to make it easy to succeed. And that's not to say that, like you know, overcoming something or success is always easily achieved. But in the context of building momentum, the hardest thing, like the day one, like coming to see your trainer after two weeks of not seeing them, is hard, you know the. Sunday scaries. I joke with my clients that they have like the Sean scaries.
Speaker 2:It's been two weeks since they see me.
Speaker 1:They're dreading this first day, right, and all you got to do is just come in and see me, you know and then you know they can.
Speaker 1:After that, the subsequent days are much easier. So we have to find ways that set up the momentum, yeah, and when it comes to our resolutions, they're quite emotional. They're rooted in like, oh, you know, I want to, I want to look this way, feel this way, and we're, we're so ready now and we're filled with drive. And what happens a week later, two weeks later and three weeks later? There's there's some pretty um, staggering stats on this. What happens to the decay rate of one's goals three weeks after 2024. So we have to find these smaller steps is what Michelle's saying and and um, and making sure that the wins are something that is easy to execute on a weekly basis, easy to execute on a daily basis.
Speaker 1:Uh, one of my favorite goals is the one of the first things that you do within the first hour of waking up is drinking a tall glass of water, and it's not necessarily the most groundbreaking thing, is it Like, yeah, Okay, Thanks, Sean, you told me to drink water. Sweet, I'm so glad I tuned in for that, but it's, it's. It's not the glass of water, it's what it represents, because on day two and day three and day four, the accumulative effect is super powerful Cause, one of the things that happens in our brains. Um, our brains are addicted to streaks. If you've ever done anything that has a streak and you create a sizable streak, it is a massive force that works against you and you will continue to do it.
Speaker 1:You don't want to break that streak, right, right, what's an example? I love a streak.
Speaker 2:I once had. So I go through phases where I find um tracking my food in like a fitness pal type app. I find it very, very helpful. Grounding um makes me feel like I have a lot of control.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And then I go through periods of time where I don't find it helpful, um particularly, and I take a break from it. But there have been times where I'm like, oh shit, I've got a 372 day streak going. You had like a 700.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I did.
Speaker 2:That was a bad that was. That was a lie. It was like it was like a 700, some odd day streak and I got to the point where I was like it's actually not helpful for me right now. My life was. It just entered a different phase. So I would track oatmeal like I'd track my breakfast, simply to keep the streak going. This thing has no longer. It's no longer serving me in this moment, but I'm obsessed with the streak, so I would track one thing, simply to keep the streak going.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And then I had to have a little bit of an honest discussion with oneself.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, a powerful streak that works on me within an app is in Duolingo. I've been doing it for I don't know 790 days as of this morning. Do you know how devastating it would feel for me to break that? You know?
Speaker 1:and this is this is one of those things where the gamification of something towards is actually really helpful, very powerful. It takes me five minutes to get to the point where I'm like. It takes me five to 10 minutes usually five minutes to do my Duolingo lesson. How much time am I spending on Instagram, on the Red Leaf account, surf and stuff that I don't need to see? Yeah, yep, there's a lot of valuable stuff on you know that I do need to see, but for sure. But the comparison is valid right.
Speaker 1:You know five minutes doing something, so that would be one practical solution for your everyday goal, which is find something that is easy to create, a streak around, so you can start to have a little pride, and water is such a you need it anyway.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:If you have it before water or before coffee, it's, you know, it's. It starts to set up something that I think. Welcome back to another edition of the Red Leaf Fitness Podcast, a show dedicated to bringing you stories, interviews and conversations about living a healthy, resilient and productive life. I'm your host, sean Blinch, and I want to thank you for making time to listen to this episode today and, if you like what we're putting down, we would love it If you would follow, rate and share this podcast. All right, now let's get down to business. Welcome back to the Red Leaf Fitness Podcast. Sitting here with Michelle who's finishing an apple, but no pressure, as I was saying to her, no pressure, no pressure, just lay out, no one must be nourished and ready, okay.
Speaker 1:So here we are, good to see you back on the. On the one and two, we give the people what they want. Remember that's right.
Speaker 2:So first of all, big welcome back to all of our community.
Speaker 1:Welcome everyone to to to 20, 24 and beyond. We're excited to kick this year off. 2023 was a tough year, you know. There was I don't know a single person who wasn't dealing with some something heavy. And here we are in a new year.
Speaker 1:A lot of people are in really good shape. We have a lot of big, great, exciting, fun goal, fun goals that people have set, and we're happy to provide our guidance and support for those things. That's what we do. So, michelle and I wanted to hop on here with a new idea and we wanted to bring in a new idea. Michelle and I wanted to hop on here with a new idea and we wanted to bring in practical solutions for your everyday goals.
Speaker 2:So so here we are so here we are.
Speaker 1:Here we are Now. What better way to kick this thing off than to start with New Year's resolutions? So why don't you take it away First? With what do you think the problem is with New Year's resolutions?
Speaker 2:I think the biggest challenge for For New Year's resolutions or when people are thinking about them or setting them in my experience is they're often too big and too far removed from where people naturally are with their the rhythm of their life. So, for example, I'll use exercise and as an example, just because of our space, somebody does not exercise in any way at all, like it full stop, no movement at all in their day, and then they set a goal of their New Year's resolution will be I want to train six days a week. So I I think the spirit of the goal is excellent and that's what should be Kind of celebrated and worked on, but it it needs to happen, in my opinion, and within like the confines of the reality of your life, you know. So we, how do we take that goal and make it realistic so that someone can build momentum, build success and make that something that is actually going to be far beyond the parameters of the resolution?
Speaker 1:So if I was to come in and say, okay, I am let's use a real example I'm, I'm, I Want to sign up for Gravenhurst Triathlon and I don't have a base, I'm that person where I'm really fired up. I'm so fed up with how things got here and I'm ready to make a change. Okay, what would you say to me? And I want, and I'm saying to you, I'm the guy I want to do six days a week.
Speaker 2:I Would say I love this goal. I think it's. I love where it's coming from. I love that that you have this in your mind and let's take this enormous thing that we're talking about and we're gonna make it Really small, and and not small in that we're minimizing the goal, we're making it into daily habits and smaller components that will lead you to that big goal. So, instead of saying I'm now going to cycle three times a week and run three times a week and and swim three times a week and I'm gonna wait, train and I'm gonna stretch and I'm gonna overhaul my nutrition and my sleep and my job and all the things that let's assume this person has three kids and they have. The kids are at that age where they're doing a bunch of crap. Instead of doing that, I'm gonna say, okay, what's something we can do this week and we're gonna focus on this week and we're gonna take that big goal and make it smaller and it and again, that's what I mean by smaller we're not minimizing it, we're making it into manageable, digestible components.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, for years you and I have been about this idea that success drives motivation and when it comes to success, we have to make it easy to succeed. And that's not to say that, like you know, overcoming something or success is always easily achieved. But in the context of building momentum, the hardest thing, like the day one, like coming to see your trainer after two weeks of not seeing them, is hard, you know the.
Speaker 1:Sunday scaries. I Joke with my clients that they have like the Sean scaries it's been two weeks since they see me. They're dreading this first day, right, and all you got to do is just come in and see me.
Speaker 1:You know, and then after that, the subsequent days are much easier. So we have to find ways that set up the momentum and when it comes to our resolutions, they're quite emotional, the rooted in like, oh, you know, I want to, I want to look this way, feel this way, and we're, we're so ready now and we're filled with drive I. And what happens a week later, two weeks later and three weeks later there's there's some pretty um, staggering stats on this what happens to the decay rate of one's goals three weeks after 2024. So we have to find these smaller steps is what Michelle's saying and and um, and making sure that the wins are something that is easy to execute on a weekly basis. Uh, one of my favorite goals is the one of the first things that you do within the first hour of waking up is, uh, drinking a tall glass of water, and it's not necessarily the most groundbreaking thing, is it Like, yeah, okay, thanks, sean you told me to drink water.
Speaker 1:Sweet, I'm so glad I tuned in for that, but it's it's. It's not the glass of water, it's what it represents, because on day two and day three and day four, the accumulative effect is super powerful, cause one of the things that happens in our brains. Um, our brains are addicted to streaks. If you've ever done anything that has a streak and you create a sizable streak, it is a massive force that works against you and you will continue to do it. You don't want to break that street, right? What's?
Speaker 2:an example.
Speaker 1:I love it. I once had. So I go through phases where I find um tracking my food in like a fitness pal type app.
Speaker 2:I find it very, very helpful.
Speaker 2:grounding Um makes me feel like I have a lot of control, yeah. And then I go through periods of time where I don't find it helpful, um, particularly when I take a break from it. But there have been times where I'm like, oh shit, I've got a 372 day streak going. You had like a 700. Yeah, I did. That was a bad. That was. That was a lie. It was like it was like a 700, some odd day streak. And I got to the point where I was like it's actually not helpful for me right now. My life was. It just entered a different phase. So I would track oatmeal like I'd track my breakfast, simply to keep the street going. This thing has no longer. It's no longer serving me in this moment, but I'm obsessed with the streak, so I would track one thing simply to keep the street going. Yeah, and then I had to have a little bit of an honest discussion with oneself.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, a powerful streak that works uh on me within an app is in Duolingo. I've been doing it for I don't know 790 days as of this morning. Do you know how devastating it would feel for me to break that? Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know and this is.
Speaker 1:this is one of those things where the gamification of something um towards is actually really helpful, very powerful. It takes me five to 10 minutes usually five minutes to do my Duolingo lesson. How much time am I spending on Instagram, on the Red Leaf account, surf and stuff that I don't need to see? Yep, yep. There's a lot of valuable stuff on you know that I do need to know For sure, but the comparison is valid, right? You know five minutes doing something.
Speaker 1:So, um, that would be one practical solution for your everyday goal, which is find something that, uh, is easy to create a streak around so you can start to have a little pride, and water is such a you need it anyways. Yeah, if you have it before water or before uh coffee, it's, you know it's. It starts to set up something that I think falls right before the day, that I think falls right behind this, which is equally as powerful as humans love to habit stack. Oh well, shoot, I have been drinking water for seven days in a row. Well, what else can I do? Maybe I'll take fish oil, maybe I'll prioritize protein, the way Michelle and, um, the crew at Red Leafs always telling me to do, you know, so maybe I adjust my breakfast.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you start to feel good about that thing, and that's exactly what we're talking about. Is that, uh, success drives motivation and we have to make it easier to succeed. Uh, and the motivation that comes for that is it can be unstoppable over a year. Um, you know, 300 glasses of water is 300, you know and more than you might have otherwise had yeah.
Speaker 2:If you were focusing, say, on overhauling your entire nutrition, which is a massive task for a lot of people, right, we might miss out on I don't know, 200 or 300 of those little wins.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:What's that? What has the saying go? It's like motivations never there when you need it, so you build habits instead, like that's. That's kind of like what we're talking about, right? Like you don't rely on the motivation to keep the habit going, you build the habit to replace the need for motivation. Yeah, that's how I interpret that anyways.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Exactly so. In summary, um, I think what you're saying is the the main problem with New Year's resolutions is people set these really big goals that are not backfilled with sustainable habits.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah. And and I think that's your example of someone who, going from kind of the couch to an Olympic distance triathlon, it's, it's very lofty, it's very manageable If you stack it with the right sustainable habits that are achievable on a daily basis.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, and just building on this, so you know when. One thing that I've been thinking about is like I set some, like I, I have a pretty big race calendar and I really don't want that to sound like a humble brag.
Speaker 1:No I know, because what I'm doing is I'm I'm leveraging the wolf at the door and this is another great tool that you can use and it's signed up for something. Get your fucking ass signed up for something. Here's what's so great about this. Okay, let's say it's the mother's day. 10 K, okay, 10 K manageable, big enough that it's like that's a lot.
Speaker 2:Yeah, anytime, I got to train for that. I got to train for that.
Speaker 1:Anytime I finish a 10 K and as a, as a you know, quote unquote runner. Anytime I finished a 10 K and proud. So there's never been one where I'm like, yeah, that was easier, that wasn't a big deal. No, every time I do it, it's always cool, yeah, me too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, me too.
Speaker 1:Because you now have the wolf at the door and we've been talking about it a lot on our social media and also with our members and emails and stuff. But a wolf at the door, by our definition, is something that you think about when you go to bed and something that you think about when you get up. It also informs all the decisions, or it starts to inform a lot of the decisions that you make during the day. If it's always there, it's always going to help you guide how you're going to build out those habits. So think about something that's in your future, whether it's.
Speaker 1:You know, I would love to do a 5K, a 10K. It doesn't have to be this triathlon business that we're really excited about. Whatever it is that you want to resolute in 2024, I want to become this. Well, that is definitely achievable, but not if we're not thinking about the habits that build towards that big goal. And what are the tools that I can use to help me build these habits? Well, building a streak, drinking a glass of water a day, or pick whatever it is for you, something that you're going to streak every single day. The second thing is going to be making sure that we're finding actionable habits that are not going to overload our life as it is, because, let's face it, you know we have things that are in our life that take priority over Gravenhurst or whatever, like there are things that are more important, like family and that kind of thing. And then the third thing is sign up and get the wolf at the door.
Speaker 2:Yeah, make it official.
Speaker 1:Make it official. Oh, and here was the other point I wanted to make about that. You want to know what I think is so great about signing up for something. It's not like you have to do it, you're not beat. This isn't like a court subpoena or you know, you haven't been served. You don't have to do jury duty, you know like. But if you sign up, you're putting your ass on the line, you're putting skin in the game and you're improving your likelihood.
Speaker 2:You do still have an exit strategy, yeah you don't have to do it.
Speaker 1:You're still going to be a wonderful person, whether you do it or not, and sometimes it happens. Of course, you know where you sign up for something. Here's the big win. Isn't this the best part? So you sign up for it, you put in all the training, you make sure you're going to bed early, you are doing all those healthy, sustainable habits every single day, and it's the person you become on your way there. That is the most powerful and profound part of this whole thing. Now, there are aspects, there are gifts that come from completing a 10 K.
Speaker 1:There are unimpeachable credentials. That's you know, you did that. No one can ever take that from you, but that is is dwarfed in how amazing it was the last four months that you spent dedicated.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean to a thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think the day, it's the race itself, the game, whatever the thing is. It's only amazing because of the stuff you did along the way. You know, like I'm absolutely no expert, I've done a grand total of one Olympic distance triathlons and I had the very best time of my entire life and came in who the hell I've? I actually still have no idea what what place I came in. I had a fucking blast doing it because I was thinking about all those shitty running days out in the rain or when I had to learn how to swim again and could only do 25 meters without having a near heart attack. You know, it's like that.
Speaker 2:All I was thinking about the whole time was how proud of myself I am for even being here in this moment, that my time was literally irrelevant. You know I, my uncle, did it with us and he's like in his early sixties and he probably I think he beat me by over half an hour. I don't fucking care. He was standing at the end Like how fun is that? You know, I saw him out on the run and I was like this is wicked. The race itself is a celebration of all that, it's not?
Speaker 2:That's the magic for me in the race.
Speaker 1:I want to build on your comment about time, as we're starting to organize and get people excited for the Gravenhurst triathlon which, by the way, we just held our first community discovery call. We're going to be holding more and we encourage you to come to them, even if you're not even considering doing the Gravenhurst triad and you just want to come and chat and you know and learn, do it. But I just want to comment on the. You know your finishing time does not matter and there's going to be a lot of anxiety around. Oh well, how am I going to compare? How am I going to stack up? Well, we know that comparison is the thief of joy. Right, that's a you know, people, but we do it.
Speaker 1:And if there was, if there's anything I can tell you right from the outset and we talked about this on the on the discovery call is that you want to think about race day as a test that you have the answers for, yeah, months ahead of time, and what that means is you're gonna be able to study for this test over and over and over and you are gonna know what your finishing time is a month before you even race. And there is a common that you don't have to go improve anything to anybody. The fact that you show up the finish line is actually the start line the second you walk on that boat. You did it, You're with us, so, as far as well, what's my finishing time? Is that even gonna be considered good? Do yourself a favor and don't even think about that. It doesn't matter, Because you know you have Michelle, who's been in the fitness industry for over 15 years. She didn't care.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I still don't know, Like I know, what my race time was. I have no idea what place that was, and the only reason I know my race time is it was a teeny bit faster than all my training times, which, to your point, like, I knew that going in, so I'm like yeah, so, okay.
Speaker 1:so let's wrap up on our first installment of Practical Solutions for your day goals. And can we share a little bit about some of the news that we're gonna be sending out in a newsletter.
Speaker 2:Yeah, sure Is it okay if I talk about cycling. So one of the things we're hoping to launch in the next couple of weeks with Coach Karen will be like a red leaf cycling class. So if you're someone who and what I think is really cool about this is if you're brand new, like you're at the place where you've just bought your first bike you have no idea how to clip in. You just learn that you need clip in pedals and shoes and things like that. Like that's where you are.
Speaker 2:The class is perfect for you. You're gonna learn how to do that. You're gonna learn how, what is a gear, how to switch gears, when to switch gears, what it feels like to be in the right gear and the wrong gear, and all that kind of stuff. And if you've been cycling for 10 years and this is your sport, you also are gonna have an awesome workout. It's, you know, it's very similar to like the CrossFit class and you get what you need out of it. For the beginner, it's so appropriate. It's such a safe place to learn how to do, how to act like use your bike and be on your bike. For the advanced athlete, it's an amazing, amazing workout.
Speaker 1:What are some of the other things that's coming down the pipe?
Speaker 2:Oh, I feel like there's something I'm drawing in blank. We're gonna be organizing a team swim.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:With Coach Tara. So we're finalizing the dates and times on that one. But anyone who's interested in, or signed up for, Gravenhurst or is interested in becoming a new swimmer or a better swimmer, that's a great place to start. So more info on that coming out once we finalize dates and times.
Speaker 1:And a great way to make a social. Let's say, you know, we find it's going to be hard for them to find the lane times and all that stuff. But if you come out, it solves. One of the biggest problems with swimming, in my opinion, is it's not very accessible. It's kind of scary. So when I have to overcome it's like are you kidding me? I have to show up. At what time? To this pool, to a place that I don't really go a lot. I have to get into a bathing suit.
Speaker 1:It's the winter. Thinking about jumping and being a cold, wet pool while it's the winter is not what I'm thinking about. And then also, I have to do it with people who are really good at swimming Whoa.
Speaker 2:It's a lot.
Speaker 1:I thought CrossFit was intimidating. So what I hope this plans to achieve is start to make it a bit more accessible. You're going to be showing up a bunch of people that you already know and it's going to be a lot of fun and you can make a social thing, you can blast off and go for tea or coffee or something after lunch, whatever.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a blast.
Speaker 1:Another thing that's coming down the pipe is we're going to be adding a Tuesday, thursday, 9.30 AM class, so we are super excited to bring this back and this is by demand. So we're happy that we're able to provide that and excited to see you guys more, provide more options for you to come in and train. And I feel like there was one other one to share.
Speaker 2:There is, but I'm drawing a blank right now.
Speaker 1:So we got our cycling class.
Speaker 2:Swimming.
Speaker 1:We got our swim.
Speaker 2:Might be a stay tuned. Well, I think a good one is the pretty regular Zoom calls for anyone interested who's either signed up for Gravenhurst. We keep talking about Gravenhurst but this is useful for anyone who's considering signing up for any race. There's a duathlon that a number of folks have signed up for thinking about. We got Dan. I just signed up for 10K. So all of these, if you're signed up for a race, a lot of the stuff that we're talking about on these calls are going to be really helpful for you Doesn't have to be Gravenhurst specific, so I think getting involved in that and if you haven't signed up for anything, still coming in and kind of getting maybe a better handle on where the value and the benefit to you personally in signing up for something is.
Speaker 1:And for the record we covered everything. I pulled up the newsletter doc that we're building to.
Speaker 2:We're too efficient.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so we got everything. So yeah, so make sure to stay tuned to both this short format podcast with Michelle and I have a lookout for those newsletters, for all the information coming down the pipe and let's make 2024 a big, big year. And thank you for joining me, michelle, and thanks for tuning in and listening to Practical Solutions for your everyday goals.
Speaker 2:Love it.