Staying Motivated

By -
Something I wrote a while ago on staying motivated on our local message board is being passed around online (just recently on the I <3 to run facebook page.) Thought I would claim it for posterity, though of course like all good thoughts, this is not just mine.

* * *

There are no tricks. Run because you have to. Run because you love it. Run because you want to be fast. Run because you want to be skinny. Run to find some quiet time. Run to sweat. Run to eat. Run to hear your heart pound in your ears. Run because you're a runner. Run because you gotta keep the streak. Run because you don't know why the hell you're running. Run because you fought with your partner. Run because your job is shitty. Run because you got no money. Run for the sunrise. Run for a race. Run because it's impossible. Run because it's easy. Run instead of doing the laundry. Run instead of watching TV. Run because no one else understands. Run because the cool kids do it. Run because you're tired of talking. Run for numbers. Run for feel. Run to prove something. Run because it f***ing hurts. Or don't run. If you got something better to do.

* * *

As for me, right now I am in a groove and can find many reasons to run. Hope you are running well too!

Comments

  1. Old ManOctober 19, 2011 at 12:05 PM

    gold

    and it seems so long ago since the post where I saw it originally.

    interwebs are amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. BadDawgOctober 21, 2011 at 8:21 AM

    On Tuesday, I was checking out the site for Running The Edge by Adam Goucher and Tim Catalano and what did I see? Color me impressed.

    It's still there at the moment, you just have to scroll down to see it.

    http://www.runtheedge.com/

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousOctober 24, 2011 at 9:01 PM

    This is a nice post.

    I also think it is important to distinguish between motivation and discipline. (Specifically, for runners who are training for a big run, as opposed to casual joggers.)

    For exmaple, we don't want to do the dishes. We don't want to clean our room or do our ironing. And sometimes, the last thing we want to do is a long run when it'd cold and raining.

    What sets a good runner apart from the average is not motivation, but discipline.

    Recognise that there are going to be times when you don't want to go for a run, but don't give yourself the choice to not do it.

    Motivation sometimes comes, sometimes it doesn't. Discipline on the other hand, is always there at your disposal.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jeff EdmondsOctober 24, 2011 at 9:29 PM

    @Anon,

    Thanks for the comment. Your distinction between motivation and discipline is a nice one. Motivation comes and goes; it is certainly variable, and perhaps it is true that what distinguishes the serious runner from the less serious is that the serious runner runs when he or she is not motivated to run.

    I think discipline and self-control is one reason that we run, for sure. Running requires discipline from us, and this is one reason we love it.

    But I am not so sure that discipline is completely distinct from motivation. Discipline is maybe just a name for a longer-term or nobler sort of motivation. It's because I am motivated to run under 2:30 in the marathon, that I am disciplined in my training. But that motivation clashes with other motivations--like, say, spending time with my family or doing well in my job or surfing the internet or taking a nap. We call ourselves disciplined when we choose the correct motivation to follow--but someone else might look at all that meaningless shuffling down the road as a bit of self-indulgence (perhaps a wife who is waiting for supper!)

    Cheers, and thanks again for the comment.

    ReplyDelete
  5. chenzhenMay 23, 2016 at 4:25 AM

    ghd
    cheap ray ban sunglasses
    nike flyknit racer
    louis vuitton outlet
    louis vuitton pas cher
    coach outlet online
    air max 90 white
    nhl jerseys wholesale
    gucci borse
    cheap oakley sunglasses
    ray ban sunglasses
    coach factory outlet
    black timberland boots
    michael kors handbags outlet
    the north face outlet
    converse outlet
    prada handbags
    louis vuitton handbags
    michael kors outlet online
    kate spade handbags
    levis 511
    ray ban sunglass,ray ban sunglasses,ray ban outlet,cheap ray bans,cheap ray ban sunglasses,cheap ray bans,ray bans
    timberland shoes
    polo ralph lauren men
    abercrombie outlet
    hollister uk
    cheap nfl jerseys
    christian louboutin uk
    christian louboutin outlet
    michael kors outlet
    polo ralph lauren outlet
    polo ralph lauren outlet
    bottega veneta shoes
    canada goose jackets
    jordans
    valentino
    polo ralph lauren
    timberland boots outlet
    chenzhen20160523

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dull Training Post

By -
The last 9 months I've learned a lot about how to run high mileage--its benefits and its drawbacks. You could describe the last three years of my training life as one of trying to figure out how to run 100 plus miles per week. It seems easy, right--you just go out the door and average 14 miles a day. But the problem of course is that training only works if you are well-trained enough to absorb it. Although I've been running on and off for 20 (gulp!) years, these last 3 years were really my first attempt to push the envelope of the volume of miles that I've run. Even in college, I would never run much more than 65 miles per week for an extended period. So, over the last three years, more often than not, I've run too much too quickly, and in the wrong ways. This is the primary reason that it took me so long to improve on my first real marathon attempt. I would have moments where the miles would really work well for me, and I would do things in training that I never cou
Read more

What Is an Easy Run?

By -
Image
What is an easy run? Well, most basically, it's a run that's easy to accomplish. It's the backbone of training. It's the run that makes every other run possible. For some runners, this is all that needs to be said. But for a lot of other runners, especially new runners or runners who are entering a new stage of fitness, the concept of "easy" can be somewhat elusive. Heck, if you are really out of shape, there's no such thing as an easy run because nothing feels easy. That said, I think there are a few things I can say about easy running that will help new runners and experienced runners alike, mostly because I think that most people -- believe it or not -- can do their easy running better. The place to start when looking to understand what an easy run is and how it works in training is to think about what it's not. An easy run is not a workout, which means that it's not a couple more things: it's not structured or planned or focused
Read more

Eulogy for a Great Coach: Van Townsend

By -
"...if an unusual necessity forces us to press onward, a surprising thing occurs. The fatigue gets worse up to a certain critical point, when gradually or suddenly it passes away, and we are fresher than before. We have evidently tapped a level of new energy, masked until then by the fatigue-obstacle usually obeyed. There may be layer after layer of this experience. A third and a fourth "wind" may supervene. Mental activity shows the phenomenon as well as physical, and in exceptional cases we may find, beyond the very extremity of fatigue-distress, amounts of ease and power that we never dreamed ourselves to own, — sources of strength habitually not taxed at all, because habitually we never push through the obstruction, never pass those early critical points." -- William James, "The Energies of Men" Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once. Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, It seems to me most stran
Read more