For 3 years and 10 months, I jogged for 30min three times per week. And I still don’t like jogging. However, doing anything for that long deserves at least a celebratory post.
My medical aid provider, Discovery, has a program where I get rewarded if I meet certain fitness goals. One of the benefits is that they give you a free Apple Watch (or Oura Ring) and you pay penalty fees every week that you miss a fitness goal. So on 14 January 2022 I made a PACT to jog for 30min, three times per week to fund my Apple Watch. This was not a resolution “to get fit”.
What I’ve learned through this journey is that, come hell or high water 1 I’ve jogged in backyards, on balconies, in thunderstorms, and in 40°C heat. The habit survives because it doesn’t need anything specific to work. , almost any habit can be kept up three times per week indefinitely as long as it is not too time consuming and you keep it simple. The way I kept this habit simple was by deciding that, no matter where I am in the world, three times a week I will put on my running shoes, pick a direction, jog for 15min, turn around and jog back the same way. No route planning. As long as I have a 45min window I can do a 30min jog, shower and be back to what I was doing before the jog.
This wasn’t my first attempt. I kept a 50-week streak once before, missed a week, and it took me three years to try again. Streaks come at a very high cost. I once chose going for a jog over being on time for a Valentine’s dinner with my family. 2 This is the moment I realized the streak had become the goal, not the fitness. After that I vowed to never leave my last jog until the last day of the week ever again. There were times where I was maybe a bit too sick to exercise, but did it anyway against my better judgement. 3 Discovery has since added rest weeks every 25 weeks. I save mine for when I inevitably get sick. I try to keep at least two in reserve. Streaks are not healthy, not for your mind and not always for your body either.
I don’t count three 30-minute runs as exercise anymore. It’s just maintenance. My non-exercise state. If I do a fourth jog or hit the gym, I’ll count that. The runs are tared out. Eventually I’ll tare out something else too.
After 200 weeks I’m not sure what’s next. I don’t know if I have capacity for another streak like this. All I know is that the formula works.
As for jogging. I still don’t like it, but I’ll keep going.