During High School football summer training camp, everyone dreaded Thursdays. It was the training day we would do a workout appropriately dubbed “pukesters”. We’d start the session with some light calisthenics and stretching before diving into this beast of a workout. Let me set the scene. A hot 80 degree Colorado afternoon on a mostly flat, but slightly inclined freshly paved asphalt parking lot just outside our weight training center. At one end of the parking lot there were 4 standard issue 45lbs barbells neatly in a line. We were divided into teams of 3-4 people depending on who showed up that day and formed 4 lines behind the bars. Getting any ‘Hunger Games’ vibes yet? The fun hasn’t even started.

The exercise looked like this. The first person in line would put the bar on his shoulders and do lunges all the way to the other end of the parking lot. This was approximately 40 yards or so, but I’m bad at math. Once they reached the end of lot, they would gently set the bar on the ground and sprint as fast as they could back to the start. Once they arrived back at the start they would turn around and do jump squats all the way back down to where they left the bar. Then they would place the bar back on their shoulders and do 15 Jump squats; 5 where they started, 5 at the middle mark, and 5 at the end. Once they reached the end, they would hand the bar off to the next participant. This counted as 1 set. We we do 3 or 4 sets of these depending on how generous the coaches were feeling that day.

One particular Thursday during this training regimen, I had my first experience with bonking. If you’re not familiar with the term, it is essentially the moment when you’re muscles have depleted a majority of the glycogen required for them to function at higher capacity. It’s the Jell-O feeling in your legs followed by nausea. 10 out of 10 would not recommend. I tried to complete my pukester sets as fast as I could, and at the end of my rampage, I was on empty. I keeled over a bush and lost my lunch. I knew I had bonked when we finished the session with light calisthenics and I almost fell flat on my face attempting to bound. My legs were done. I couldn’t take another step.

While bonking is a physical manifestation of total energy depletion, its something we’ve all probably experienced at one point or another in our goals. We go 110%, sprinting at the start, and run full-speed into a brick wall. This is the moment when not only are we completely vulnerable to the voices telling us to quit, but we can’t imagine physically doing any more. Its a real thing, and it sucks. Keeled over that hypothetical bush we start picturing the thing we have to do tomorrow to continue progress, and we get sick to our stomach. Its a turning point. So how do we deal with it?

Bonking is completely avoidable. In the years since those torturous days of summer training camp, I’ve bonked a handful of times. Most of them were involving cycling. I took on a hill I wasn’t prepared for, or rode a lot further than I should have. Most of the times were due to poor planning on my part. But it doesn’t have to be that way. We tend to have a bias about what we think we can accomplish in a certain timeline, versus the reality of what we can accomplish in that timeline.

Planning your goals is key. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Remember, we’re taking it slow with this challenge. If that means cutting your daily run goal in half to preserve energy, or spending a fraction of the time working on your business idea versus an hour each day, then make those adjustments. Here’s a good starting point. Write down what you want to accomplish and the time you think it will take to accomplish that task. Next, put that piece of paper out of site for 24-48 hours. Then revisit what you wrote down and think about whether or not you still think its a tangible timeline. If you still think its doable, add 30% to that timeline. we’ll call it a bias tax. If you planned to finish that goal in a month, shoot for 45 days.

You might think I’m questioning your drive; trust me I’m not. I’m giving you tools cut through the bias and adding some buffer for the unexpected. I always think of Marshall from the sitcom “How I Met your Mother”. On two occasions during the series, the camera would pan over to Marshall as he says “I can walk that far.” Then the music starts playing a tune singing “Marshall versus the machine.” Lets give ourselves a break. And if we do finish early, its even more reason to celebrate!

Bonking sucks. I’ve been there. But you know what sucks more? Quitting because of it. Bonking is not an indicator of failure, it’s a threshold alert telling you to make some adjustments. The reality is, when we bonk, we have not completely depleted all of the glycogen in our muscles. We can still perform basic functions like walking. Our bodies are good at telling us when enough is enough. Listen to it every once in a while, but listen to the course corrections, and avoid hitting that abort button.

Start your weekend strong! Adjust as needed and crush some push-ups. Happy Friday!