Last week's Take It and Run Thursday question comes from Lindsay:Whether training for a specific race or just running for the fun of it, we all experience the ups and downs of running. What do you do to get yourself motivated to run when it feels like it's the last thing you want to do?
Clearly Lindsay must have known that I had a draft post of this exact question that I had wanted to do since March. So glad you asked!
I'm often in a spot where I just don't want to get out of bed. I typically run in the mornings prior to starting my day, so it's almost always a sacrifice of sleep for running. And when I wake up and decide that I really want to stay in bed, I look at a framed picture that is in immediate view. It's a very enlarged picture of my Garmin watch at the end of my 48 Miles in 48 Hours event. It reminds me that if I can run 48 miles over a two-day period, I can get out of bed and run 4.5 in a half-hour.
I also look at a picture of my dad and me at the end of my first marathon, the New Orleans Marathon. I look at the pride that he has in me and the huge smile in that picture and it always make me put my sneakers on and get out the door.
I think about being able to wear my "skinny jeans" and how much I love wearing those jeans rather than the ones 7 sizes larger. And I think about how I never want to look the way I looked before. I vowed to never get back to that weight, and let me tell you, fear of gaining weight is a fantastic motivator.
I think about how much I want to have a big plate of nachos or hot wings later, and maybe a beer or two. And if I'm going to do that, I need to earn those calories by getting out that morning.
I also think about how great it felt to donate my "fat" clothes. Over the last couple of years, I've donated at least two dozen garbage bags full of my "fat" clothes. Nothing feels better than giving away clothes that are so big you look like you're swimming in them. Clothes that make you wonder how you were ever that big.
And that's what I think about at 5 or 6 AM when my alarm goes off and all I want to do is hit snooze. It gets me out the door and on the road.
3 comments:
I love that you have that photo enlarged and framed as a constant reminder.
if you did THAT you can do anything.
Great post - thanks for sharing!
agree with Marlene, you accomplished something huge -- there's no stopping you now :)
Well, no wonder you keep at it. Some terrific motivators you have to get you out the door. I should have more pics of Hawaii around my house :-)
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