Motivation is Key

Race day is exactly 2 months away from today…I’ve already hit 20 miles in my long runs. I’ve done a 5k in under 40 minutes and I’ve exhausted my paths in DC. I’ve added yoga into my routine (in other words, I’m stretching).

Now what?

The days are getting shorter, meaning that I’m way less motivated to get up at 5am and run in the dark (mom sighs in relief). My body is sore and I’m tired all the time. My dedication to nutrition has faltered and I find myself raiding the candy basket at work and wolfing down Hershey kisses like nobody’s business (although I have been better with breakfast – yogurt with Kashi and fruit). Beer tastes especially delicious. Yes I love fall…but it’s doing nothing for my running. I hate running in the cold and DC is already starting to cool off. So what’s a marathon newbie to do?

Bribe myself of course! Many of you may have heard of the plan to bribe DC students to get better grades and behave themselves…well if we can pay students to go to school, I can certainly pay myself to run! A dollar a mile…now THAT will get me to go those extra 5 miles!

I actually got this idea from reading an article in Runner’s World. It seems like sheer genius to me! Now I just need to think of something that I REALLY want and that I will be able to save enough money for within the next 2 months. My goal for September mileage is 110 miles (= $110 in bribe money). I’ll probably taper in October, so we’ll go with an even $200 goal. Now I have to think of something very special to give myself in return for torturing my body. A massage seems obvious, but yet so boring. I will have to find something really fun if I want to motivate myself.

A lot of people that I talk to about running tell me that they have a hard time getting past their personal best time. How do you even make it to 3 miles? And once you get there, how do you get past it? Those are questions that I’ve heard over and over again. Sometimes, I’m right there with you. I went out for my long run on Sunday (17 miles), and after about 6 miles, I was ready to toss in the towel. “enough of this!” I thought. “Back to the couch for some cheetos!” After all, you burn about 100-125 calories with every mile. I figured 6 would be good enough. And if you remember, I’m all over the listening to your body and stopping when you need to stop (or at least, I’m trying to be). But then I really tuned into my body…and my body wasn’t in pain, my body was just whining like a little 2 year old in the grocery store. So I just focused on the next mile…and then the next mile…and the next. That’s where most people encounter their problems – they try to run their whole workout in their head right from the start. That’s when you start to panic, that’s when you realize you still have a half hour, an hour of running left, and you just feel like you’ll never make it. But one mile – one mile is, what, 10 minutes? At the most. 10 minutes is nothing. In your life, you’ll have so many 10 minutes. You waste 10 minutes doing any number of things – picking at your toes in a yoga class, watching cookies bake, waiting for water to boil. 10 minutes is nothing. A mile is nothing. That’s what you need to tell yourself – even if you don’t believe it right away, you will get to the day when you say to yourself “a mile is nothing” and your response will be, “a mile?! Heck, 2 miles is nothing!” my personal mantra, when I get really pooped is, “3 miles is nothing.” Then I go 3 miles…then I face the next 3. it carries me through the run.

Why are you still reading? Why aren’t you running?