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

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hansons' Marathon Method and Pfitzinger's Advanced Marathoning -- the two aspects of marathon training

By -
On the message boards at RunningAhead, there have been a ton of recent threads about the new Hanson's Marathon Method , most of them comparing it with Pfitz' "old reliable" Advanced Marathoning.  One of the smartest posters on the board (the guy solves Rubik's Cubes while marathoning) bhearn put together a comparison of the different marathon approaches that is truly excellent. If you are looking to get more intelligent about your marathon training, bhearn's summary of the similarities and differences in these two fundamentally sound approaches wouldn't be the worst place to start. The most interesting aspect of bhearn's analysis is his comparison of the total mileage done at various intensities in the two plans over the course of a training cycle. He breaks it down in terms of the classic physiological moments of VO2max, Lactic Threshold, and MP (sometimes called Aerobic Threshold.) I am stealing his chart and pasting it below: Hansons Pfitzinge...
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

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