Motivation

I got out and ran my 3 miles yesterday, despite the fact that it was below freezing outside and a fresh layer of snow that hadn’t been properly plowed the day before and instead had slightly melted and then frozen into an icy mess. It was not the most fun training run I’ve ever done, and I don’t think I got up to enough intensity to really work on my VO2 Max, but I’m really glad I did it. I was not motivated to run—- I had to shovel the driveway first, which took about half an hour, and when I was done with that I was strongly tempted to just call that my workout and spend the rest of the day watching football. But I didn’t—- here’s why and how.

First, how I motivated myself. When I’m struggling to find the willpower to go out and run, one of the best tools for me is just to reflect on how I will feel later in the day. I know that, no matter how uncomfortable the run is, I will definitely be warm and dry later in the day. And I know I will feel a lot better about myself if I do the run than if I don’t. Getting out and running is a mortgaging my current comfort against the pride I’ll take in the achievement later. I use that same rubric the other direction, too—- I used to try to get up and run first thing in the morning, before school, but it was a real struggle to get myself out the door, and a lot of the time I wouldn’t. So I was starting the day with a sense of failure, which wasn’t great. One solution would have been to try new ways to motivate myself, but it just didn’t seem like it was going to work for me. So I changed my routine in order to set myself up for success, and on most weekdays I run after school instead. I set a realistic goal for myself and then rely on the fact that I know I’ll feel good when I hit it.

I also have a training partner. Many people join running clubs or run with a human partner, but I run with my dog, Mason. Mason is an Australian Cattle Dog, which means he ideally needs about 4 hours of exercise a day—- he doesn’t always get that, but if I don’t take him running he might not get any at all. When he doesn’t get his exercise, he’s miserable and he makes my wife miserable by barking and eating things he shouldn’t. So my running partner motivates me in several ways—— I have more fun running with him than by myself, I have a sense of obligation to make sure he get’s his exercise, and my life is much more pleasant if he’s in a good mood. Accountability= motivation.

Lastly, I motivate myself with races. I sign up to run big, challenging races in the future, which keeps me honest about training in the present. I think the races are more important as a motivation tool for my training than they are as ends in and of themselves. As a teacher, I know that Spring Break is more important because it motivates me through Winter than as an actual opportunity for fun and recreation. Spring Break is never as great as it seems like it’s going to be, but the idea of it is always enough to carry me through February. Similarly, sometimes when I’m in the start corral before a marathon I am pretty mad at myself for signing up for it, but I never regret the fact that it motivated me to get in shape over the last six months. Of course, sometimes this has backfired and having a race hanging over my head just makes me anxious and depressed because I’m not training enough, but the more I run the better I understand what I can realistically expect of myself, and I plan accordingly. Speaking of which, I’m currently training to run 5 half marathons across 5 states in July—- you can learn more about it by going to the About Page for this website, you can even donate to my fundraiser! Anyway.

Why is it important for me to motivate myself and run? I think it’s interesting how that has evolved over time. When I was a runner in my teens and twenties, I honestly ran and did athletic things to stay in shape and impress people, especially girls (this didn’t necessarily work, it’s not like I was chased around the 5K course by screaming fans). As I got into my 30s, I ran to prove things to myself—- can I run a half marathon? OK, I can, can I run a full marathon? Can I run a harder marathon? Once I hit 40, my main fitness goal just started to be to stay healthy—- my doctor started warning me about my cholesterol and blood pressure, so I lost weight; my mom developed diabetes and I really don’t want to get diabetes, so I lost a little more weight. But now, my main motivation to stay in shape is that it makes me feel better. I got out and ran yesterday because I had been in a bad mood all weekend, and I felt a whole lot better after I got back. I have really been struggling with my mood for a good month or so now—- the news seems to be all bad, my kids are demanding an stressful, the holidays are tough—- and fresh air and exercise are two things that almost every study agrees will make you feel better. I also take SSRIs and go to therapy, but the one thing that always puts me in a better mood is running. So, I’ve got to stay motivated. But it will be a lot easier if this weather ever breaks…