Last month, Chris McClung talked about goal setting in this episode of the Running Rogue podcast. His big goal is a marathon PR, but he’s focusing on the process goals, the things he’s doing every week to help him in his PR quest. As he said, “If you focus on the process and the inputs, then the outcome will take care of itself.”
Every week in his bullet journal, Chris lists the things he needs to do to take his running to the next level: strength training, mobility exercises, strides, drills. and then he checks each one off as he completes them.
Without realizing it- or maybe I was subconsciously influenced by Chris- I’ve been doing something similar with my weekly goals. I don’t have a specific “outcome” goal right now, other than to get my running back to a level where I can run longer and start doing speedwork again. In order to get to that point, I write down my “process goals” for the week- I’ve found it helpful to be very specific. Instead of vaguely planning to do strength training, here’s what this week looks like: “Yoga 3x, lower body strength 2x, Peloton Crush Your Core Challenge (four core classes), pull-up work 3x, stretch class 2x.”
In order for this to work, these have to be the correct process goals to get me where I want to be. After I listened to the podcast episode for the second time, I’m adding some specific ankle and foot mobility work to the weekly goals, and it’s likely I’ll change them again as time goes on.
BUT. This week I almost got lured into the Peloton Trap, or as I like to call it… the “Pelo-trap.”
I found myself considering taking a Peloton upper body strength class instead of doing my pull-up work. There’s a nagging feeling that the pull-up sessions somehow don’t count, because I’m not getting Peloton credit for them. There’s something addictive about getting that blue circle for the day.
I had to stop and remind myself WHY I’m working on pull-ups. It’s not to show off at the gym (that would be hard, since I’m doing pull-ups in my garage) and I’m not going to get a blue circle or a badge. To refresh my memory, I watched this video about why pull-ups are good for runners. Oh yeah… they strengthen the muscles in your back to help your posture. The latissimus dorsi muscle originates in the low back and can help stabilize your core. When Janae from Hungry Runner Girl was training for the marathon where she set her (incredibly fast) PR, her coach was having her do one, and only one, exercise for strength: pull-ups.
Some people love Peloton, and you really can be in incredible shape doing nothing but Peloton classes. But I have to remember my true goal, the thing I really love and want to do more than anything: run. The Peloton classes are tools for me, but I have to remember to use them wisely. I don’t do any of the Peloton running classes, because I don’t think it would be helpful to have someone who doesn’t know me and is not my coach, guiding me through a workout. So I’ll have to settle for a smattering of blue dots throughout my month, knowing that I actually worked out (in some way) every day.
Is Peloton part of your training program? How big a part?
Do you ever fall into the Pelo-trap?
24 Responses
I did fall in and luckily I escaped. Lol
I used it as a distraction for running. Not helpful.
I used it to bike because I had FOMO and I enjoyed the music.
If I go back it will be for workouts. And only ones that will help.
I’m still in denial mode. And just run and race.
Love hearing your thoughts.
Thanks Darlene! You know what I think- if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. You might as well just run and race because that’s working for you.
When I was in college, I was scheduled back to back to back all day long and I was really stressed out. I must have looked at my watch a hundred times a day. I saw a therapist and she recommended that I just take my watch off, particularly on campus where there is a clock in every hallway and classroom. Just having a reminder of my wrist that time was passing by led to so much stress. Then, seven or eight years ago, I got a Fitbit. It was a huge mistake. I was so obsessed with meeting my step counts that I would forgo other forms of exercise to make sure my streak wasn’t broken. It turns out that these tracking things are bad for people like me – I literally couldn’t sleep if I thought I wouldn’t make my goals. Now I just track my goals in a paper planner and it’s easier for me to honestly record things if I don’t make a goal because I feel like I’m not letting down anyone (or, in many cases, an electronic minder). I would never be able to shrug off the lack of a blue circle, so I’m pretty sure Peloton is NOT for me!
That’s a good point- I think it has to do with personality type. Some people wouldn’t care, but it’s easy for me to get addicted to things- like those little blue circles.
I totally hear you on the blue dot OCD, LOL. While in Florida, all of my biking miles were outdoors and “on my own.” IN other words, I didn’t do one Pelo cycling class, nor did I get “credit” for any of those (almost) 100 miles on the app. The thing is, come Spring and Summer, I will be cycling outdoors far more than inside, and I honestly much prefer that. When I got my January progress report (for lack of a better term), it said my Pelo minutes were way down in compared to December. Oh well. I like doing daily core and stretching, so it’s pretty easy to get that daily blue dot, but I’m weaning myself off of the mindset that every cycling workout has to be led by a Pelo instructor 😉 Sometimes I just want to let my mind wander (or watch Emily in Paris) while my legs have their happy pedal time 😉 I think that’s why a lot of people run…to clear their mind and just enjoy fitness for the release it gives them.
Well, good for you for resisting the lure of the blue dot! It is slightly annoying when you know you’ve been working out a lot, and Peloton says your minutes are way down. I guess we just can’t take it too seriously.
I’m always the odd duck out it seems (i.e. no social media…for OVER A DECADE), but I am so glad I do not use the Peloton. I think it would be a very hard thing for me to manage.
This year I’ve really, really scaled back on monitoring my activity on my Apple Watch. I’ve walked at least a km each day since Jan 1st and always track those workouts and when the roads clear I’ll start running again, but I don’t even look at my daily rings. I know I stand lots and I burn calories…and I just needed a break from doing this. I used to alternate months of making sure I closed every ring every single day + record a workout (on Apple watches this is calorie, stand, and exercise goals). I actually think, at the stage I was in, this was very detrimental to my mental health and it feels so much better to not feel like a slave to getting those dots. There were nights I would need to fit in a “stand” and would stay up an extra hour to get this or, multiple times, I ran laps at the bottom of my bed in the dark because I’d climbed in to bed and realized I hadn’t completed an official “workout.”
I know that Pelaton serves SO many people well and I 100% support anyone getting 1000 dots in a row, if it works for them. But just a shout-out (as you’ve so nicely put it) that we need to remember the underlying purpose. Instead of being a motivator, it felt like a slave master for me and that just wasn’t a good fit.
Yes, Peloton is great for some people and not so great for others (as you’ve proven.) I think it depends on your personality, and also your goals. I’ve narrowly avoided the Pelo-trap, but I still struggle a little to remind myself that a workout still counts if it’s not a Peloton class.
I do love Peloton, and I do keep up my blue dot streaks. I also have a Garmin and I track my steps. But, I don’t obsess over it. Some days I get more minutes than others, who cares? I tend to be pretty obsessive, but I manage these things. It works for me!
I saw your blue dots, Nicole, and I have to admit it gave me a pang of envy (which shows you I’m too focused on it.) It sounds like you’ve definitely figured out a system that works for you.
It would be nice if the Pelo app would let you add a personal goal (ex: working on your pullups) and give you a blue dot for it. I don’t use Pelo but I can definitely relate to doing things to check a box over doing the things that I need to be doing. When I did my run streak in December I definitely got a rush from seeing the consecutive days mount up in my running apps, and there was no offset to show the strength training that I wasn’t doing at the time.
This comment made me think, what if I had a system where I put a sticker on my calendar every day I work out- kind of like my own “blue dot” system- and… nope. I want someone else to give me that affirmation, which is kind of strange! The Peloton app is definitely cleverly designed to lure in exercise addicts like me.
I have your same goal: run longer and start doing speedwork again. For speedwork I only mean fartlek.
I couldn’t follow a Peloton training program because my right arm movements are limited. For this reason I cannot do exercises of strength because I risk to damage more my back (some years ago I broke the L3 and D7 vertebras) that would work in an asymmetrical posture. So, now, the only solution is the stretching, paying attention to maintain the right posture.
Yes, you have to know your own body (and you obviously do.) And, I’ve been doing some fartlek workouts, just to sneak in a little speed. It feels good!
I am on a Peloton Streak and I’ll get my blue dot one way or another – it’s a motivator for me. Sometimes it’s just my 10 minute morning meditation. I do workouts that are not on Peloton, but I often just use one of the runs (and listen to the music) but run my own training paces. I have gotten used to having the trainers’ voices in my ear – it’s like having company. 🙂
That’s a good point- if I really wanted that blue dot I could do a meditation (still haven’t tried those0 or a stretch class. I think it would annoy me to do the Runs though- I’d rather just listen to my own music and not have anyone talking.
Great points. I am a Pelo-addict, but am pretty good at picking classes that work for me. But if I’m doing a warm-up or stretch class that isn’t hitting what I want to do, I will do my own thing. FYI, you will still get the weekly streak badges if you don’t workout every day, so don’t sweat the missing dots. (LOL)
Yes, I noticed I was getting those weekly streak badges! So that’s something.
Nope, I definitely don’t fall into the Pelo trap. I do do treadmill runs with Peloton, but I’m not training for anything and often modify them quite a bit. There are times an entire month can go by without a blue dot — what can I say, I am just not motivated by them (or stickers, either, I’ve tried that in the past & it just doesn’t do anything for me).
I have really been enjoying my warm up cycles — I think I’ll actually be sad when paths are clear again and I’m sometimes driving to run somewhere else & can’t warm up that way.
Well, look at it this way- you can look forward to your warm up cycles again next winter! Just goes to show there’s something good about all phases.
I’m one of the don’t care ones, I don’t even care if I lose my Duolingo streak and that’s well over 1,000 (my husband would be devastated if I did). So of course my problem is making myself use my Peleton app!!
That’s funny about the Duolingo streak. Yes, you don’t seem to be in any danger of falling into the pelo-trap!
I’ve never worried too much about maintaining any sort of Peloton streak, mostly because I know I’m not someone who can commit to working out (in some form or another, even if it’s just stretching or gentle yoga) every day. But I know it can be super motivating for other people! I have enough issues as it is, haha, so I’m glad this isn’t another thing to add to my list. :p
I will admit that I’ve caught myself NOT doing certain Peloton workouts because I want each one to “count.” I have a goal to log 100 Peloton workouts this year and I’m like “no, a 10-minute yoga or stretching class can’t count towards my total; that’s not a ‘real’ workout” so then I won’t do it. IT’S SILLY. We all have our weird Peloton worries, I guess!