You might think, at face value, that October isn’t a particularly significant month. Okay, it has Halloween but that’s really just a glorified excuse to buy a huge box of chocolates (that you know you won’t run out of on the night), so you can have a stash in your cupboard whenever you fancy a covert nibble. Right?
Of course, it’s the month when the clocks change (assuming this affects you) or, to be more accurate, it’s the month, in the northern hemisphere, that brings darkness and that’s not exactly alluring.
But you see, that’s just because it lacks purpose, for most people. For Sport Walkers on the other hand, it’s the month when it makes most sense to make a change, from what we might call the summer focus, to the winter focus. And while this change will differ for each of us, it’s still beneficial to make it and to go from one phase to another, to make a new start.
This then gives October a new significance and purpose and can help to counter the sense of helpless inevitability that usually accompanies the arrival of October – it’s all downhill from here! Yes, the days remain reasonably long until the 31st, yes, you can still have some really nice autumn sunshine and warm days this month but we all know what’s coming and that sense of impending doom can be hard to escape if you don’t have the sort of structural shift that we’re talking about here.
When you make a significant seasonal change to the phase of activity you’re undertaking, you get a boost, a sense of renewed purpose and enthusiasm for what lies ahead. When you time this change for a moment that would otherwise be mildly depressing, you can bypass all the negative stuff and turn that moment into a completely positive shift.
But this isn’t just why October is such a good month to make this change. Its position in the calendar is ideal. You see, for anyone planning a major challenge the following year, the structure of their training in the months preceding it is vital but that structured training is only a part of it. Before then, it’s incredibly valuable to build endurance that can power you through both your preparation and your challenge and that comes from simply going out on reasonably long well paced walks and that’s where October comes in.
Structure, what structure?
Let’s assume you have a challenge in June. Unless you’re an experienced and fairly prolific Sport Walker, you’re going to want between 3 – 6 months of training, so that you can perform to your very best and achieve a goal that will really mean something to you. This means around three months of really targeted training where you’re working hard consistently and then three months before that, where you’re still training at pace but you’re not going as far and your training pace is less critical.
So with these two training blocks, this takes us back to December. Where October steps in, is that it gives you a period of unstructured activity until December but you’re still working towards that June challenge. Remember that old phrase, ‘all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’? Well it’s exactly the point of this.
You might think of it as ‘pre-training’ or you might not care what you call it but just enjoy going out, walking strongly without any guiding plan. This couple of months is your reward for all the training you’ve done in the past and is an investment in the training that’s yet to come because all this freestyle ‘no goal’ walking isn’t just empty miles that have no impact. You’re still going to be progressing, it’s just that you’re free from structure.
It’s not just those with a challenge focus that benefit from the shift in focus come October. Fitness focused Sport Walkers following our Get Fit Walking advice will benefit too. If this is you, then take this time between October and the New Year as your reward for the work you’ve done so far. Ease your grip on your workout targets and just go out and enjoy your walking.
Take this time to invest in your love for walking, so max out on autumn colours, take all the opportunities that will, without fail, come your way to build your resilience and self belief by actively going out in bad weather, after dark, in conditions that you may, until now, have avoided like the plague.
The October to New Year block for the Get Fit Walking crowd, is all about sticking to your overall schedule and still working hard but not following a strict method. This ‘freestyle’ approach can really reinvigorate your enthusiasm because you’re focusing on the experiences you have and the places you go walking more than you’re focusing on workout targets.
You won’t lose any momentum from making this change, nor will your progress take a step back. When you return to structured workout walks in the New Year, you’ll be refreshed and find yourself performing better as a result.
So, regardless of whether it’s challenge that floats your boat or you’re only interested in your waistline and feeling fitter, changing your schedule or, at least, changing your focus in October is really beneficial. And because October is often a challenging month to go through because of the knowledge that we’re soon going to be plunged into darkness, this new beginning enables you to counter negative feelings. You’re starting afresh and moving towards a milestone in the New Year when you’ll return to more structured work.
If you can make this time of year about preparation, enjoyment, and making a new start, then you can fully enjoy, not only the month but the last phase of the year before January comes and the whole cycle begins again.
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