PODCAST - I tried running a new route this year, and it changed my life (Here’s what happened)
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[00:00:00] Welcome to the Athlete with Asthma Show. I'm your host Johnny Ha, an ultra runner endurance athlete, and yes, a guy who's had an inhaler prescribed since birth. Despite doctors telling me I could never play soccer nor run a marathon, let alone a hundred K ultra. I prove them all wrong. This show is where I share everything I've learned from breathing techniques to mindset shifts to help you become the athlete and the person you truly want to be.
So if you're ready to achieve your goals, despite limitations, let's get started.
Do you have your favorite route, your favorite trail ~that ~you go on every day or a couple times a week? ~Your favorite path that you like to hit, your favorite path that you like to, your favorite path that you like to go exploring on.~
Your favorite path that you like to go [00:01:00] exploring on? Well, what I found is by doing the same route every day,~ it may help me. ~While it ~has ~helped me stay consistent with ~my ~running, I found that my body started going on autopilot. Well, this is a good thing when it comes to building a habit. This is not a good thing for my enjoyment of the sport and growing in my mind. So I decided that I try running a new route this year and it changed my life. So I went from running through this park by my house where I have this loop that I take to ~not just running like this, but ~running ~more like this ~through a neighborhood and ~then ~running back. ~And ~now I have two different running options. I ~actually ~added a third option because ~along with running a new route this year, ~my fiance and I ~have also ~started hiking a new route this year.
Previous years, I not only ran the same route, I hiked the same route over and over and over. And. And like I said, while this is very good for me, making sure that I [00:02:00] work out every day, so it was ~really ~bad for experiencing new things. And what I found is when you are not experiencing new things in one part of your life, this can start to flow over into other parts of your life.
Life. So when you make a change and, yeah, I still do this route a couple times a week. Now I do this route as well, ~and then we throw, ~and then I throw in a new hiking route that I run as well, what this has done though is I used to just go on autopilot and go running, so I used to go on autopilot.
~And, uh, ~I wasn't ~very ~open to running new trails, ~which means I wasn't really open to ~trying new things in life in general. New things in my business, new things in my personal life. Going to new restaurants, trying new activities, like going to a haunted house at the age of 34.
That scared the heck outta me, by the way. So I've gone from autopilot. To presence, to openness ~to ex open~
to [00:03:00] experiences. Now. I actually like it when friends take me on different routes. I started playing tennis this year. I am going to different workout classes this year. ~I am tr. Now I can't. ~Now, I'm not saying that because I decided to start running something new that all these other changes happen.
What I'm saying is when you make a change in one part of your life, it can flow into other parts. ~How you do, ~how you do one thing is how you do everything. ~So ~it's important to be conscious and deliberate about what you do. The other thing is I went from boredom. It's really boring running the same route every time, even when it's the beautiful route that I run. The ~beautiful ~route ~that've ran for training and ~that empowered me to win my ~a ~hundred k. I went from boredom to enjoyment every morning. ~ I still make it so I don't have decision fatigues 'cause I,~ I still make it so I don't have decision fatigue 'cause I have two route options and I have variations ~of that route option ~depending on how I'm feeling ~that morning.~
But having the ability to mix it up brings [00:04:00] a lot of enjoyment to my life. ~This is also. ~This has ~also ~brought excitement back. ~One thing that happened before I did this is ~I really lost my joy for running. I was tired. I was broken down. I was running a hundred miles a week for multiple weeks. I was running 80 miles plus a week for more than a month, ~a month and a half, two months, and ~I was getting so tired and ~just ~bored of the sport ~that I'm.~
The sport ~that ~I love, the sport ~that ~I love competing in. I no longer wanted to compete. I just wanted to run for fun. ~And ~a big part of that was not feeling like I had to ~go out there and ~get miles done. Instead, I'm back to exploring. ~And ~that's really how I first got into running, was running through cities, exploring them instead of taking an Uber, running up and down mountains ~exploring them ~because I wanted to do it faster.
So I've eliminated boredom ~and Okay. And ~this is probably the most powerful thing in my life as I'm starting to think differently and. Doing different things. How you do one thing is [00:05:00] how you do everything. ~And ~this has snowballed throughout my life to living a more fulfilling life. ~And, and ~the funny thing ~about all this ~is by doing the same trail long enough or the same two trails long enough at some point.
I'm gonna go on autopilot again. This is just how our brains work. I'm gonna feel bored again. I'm not gonna have new ideas again, but now I know that when this happens, I just need to mix up my running route and ~I will ~empower ~even ~more change ~and movement ~in my life ~now. ~Now I have a gift for you ~for spending time with me today, and it's ~my three pillars of Healthy Living Guide, movement, tracking, and accountability.
I created this guide to be easily integrated into your life in a couple minutes or less. All you have to do is grab your copy link in the description below if you're watching this on YouTube, or go to the show notes if you're listening to this as a podcast.
Or you can go to www.athletewithasthma.com/healthy-living-guide to grab your free copy today. ~I'm excited for you. I am excited. F ~I'm excited for you to try a new [00:06:00] trail. Let me know in the comments what your favorite running trail is and why, ~and ~I'll see you in the next episode.
Thanks for tuning in to the Athlete with Asthma Show. I hope today's episode inspired you to overcome any perceived limitations you may have. Remember, your health and wellness journey isn't about perfection. It is about progress. So I invite you to take a small step right now towards your goals, and if you found something helpful here, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share the podcast with others on a similar path.
Until next time, keep challenging yourself and redefining what's possible.
