“The man at the top of the mountain did not fall there.”
- Unknown
To me, the sound of the alarm clock at 5 a.m. is like fingernails being dragged across a chalkboard. It startles me out of my slumber, causes my ears to bleed and makes me wish I had gone to bed earlier the night before. But it also provides notice that I have a chance to get my fat butt out of bed and get my run on. I’d love to be able to tell you that I have the discipline to lace up my running shoes every time the alarm goes off, but sometimes I’m just not feeling it. It all comes down to motivation.
Motivation is an odd thing. I’m sure some runners run for the sense of accomplishment at the end of the race or because they’ve always run and can’t imagine not running. I wish I fell into one of those two buckets, but the truth is that I run for some combination of accomplishment, health and solitude.
Accomplishment
Nothing beats the feeling of finishing a run. I’ve run three half marathons over the last couple of years, and that feeling of crossing the finish line is one of the greatest natural highs anyone could ever feel. That said, I really get a similar charge out of a long training run.
There’s something about being up at dawn and seeing lights come on around the neighborhood an hour into a run. I really feel like I’m accomplishing something special. Plus, I feel great for the rest of the day. I’ve had weekend mornings where I’ve put in 8 miles and then met friends at the golf course for a 10 a.m. tee time. It’s kind of fun to be able to say that I’ve already gotten in a 90-minute workout before even reaching the first tee. Plus, it provides me with an excuse to play worse than bogey golf.
Health
I really started to get into running as I got older and my cholesterol numbers began creeping upward. My doctor pretty much scared me into running to maintain (gain?) a level of physical fitness. I’ve found that keeping a good training schedule and pushing myself has not only had a good impact on my blood scores, but I also see a corresponding drop in the numbers on the scale. The only downside to this is that I have to keep buying new pants, but I guess that would fall under the header of “Vanity” instead of “Health.” Either way, it’s definitely part of my motivation.
Solitude
I don’t think anyone who knows me would be surprised to hear my Myers-Briggs scores indicate that I’m an extrovert, but I still need some solitude every now and then. This is the primary reason that I have eschewed training with a partner. I think having a running partner would definitely help me get out of bed at 5 a.m. more often, but I feel like having a training partner would prevent me from using an early morning run to clear my head, plan out my day and just enjoy the silence.
What motivates you to run? Why are you running 13.1 or 26.2 in October?
I have several tricks I use to stay on schedule. First, I print my training plan (a grid showing days/weeks and how many miles for each day) and keep it in plain sight on my desk. Every day that I do the mileage I circle the number in green. If I miss a day I would put a red “X” through the day. I’m proud to say that over my last 2 training cycles (for half marathons) I haven’t missed a day or a mile. I’m too type A to want to break the green circle pattern. My other trick is that I listen to audio books when I run. And ONLY when I run. If I want to hear what happens next in my book, I have to go run. I love to read and physical books take me away from my responsibilities in life, but audio books make me get out there more enthusiastically. I find that when I listen to music it’s only background noise and my mind is still going and thinking about everything – how much longer do I have to run, I’m so tired, what I need to do for the day and I stress myself out. However, listening to the story of my book becomes my primary activity and I totally zone out on the running – to the poin that I have to keep an eye on the time and make sure I don’t run too long. Good luck everyone. I can’t wait to do Columbus again!!