Often times when I run I find myself saying "Why the hell do I do this? My legs hurt, I can't breathe and I may fall over, roll into the road and die."
Shockingly enough I usually have a pretty good answer to give myself. As I've gone through the different stages of "becoming a runner" I have changed my "why" several times. When I first decided that I no longer wanted to be out of shape, over weight and depressed I had those reasons as my "why." Running gave me a way to believe in myself and get my body into working order.
As I have run along this journey of going from not being able to run a quarter mile to putting up numbers that I never thought I could, I have developed so many "whys" that it's hard to even list them. They usually change daily. I keep a book by me at work that I list all the different reasons I run. I do this specifically for those long runs that I complete after my work day ends. Throughout the day I manage to convince myself I'm too tired or that this run doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. So, I take the book and read all my "why's" and get my butt back in line with the positive ling of thinking.
Today my "why" was "because you're too good to quit." In Atlanta we are experiencing some pretty cold weather and despite the 20* temps I got dressed and headed out. People were looking at me like I was some sort of alien who doesn't have a lick of sense. But on I traveled through my 8 miles. I, like clock work, asked myself - "WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!" And I simply said "because you're too good to quit." I don't quit. I'm not that woman. I finish what I start. I do it and I do it well. And I am NOT going to let my standards of myself drop just because it's cold or I think I'm tired.
So what I'm trying to say here is you gotta find your "why" or your list of "why's". If you don't have your "why" then it's going to be much harder to keep the motivation. Everything you do has a purpose, including your running. Make every stride a stride with purpose.
In other news, my run today was between okay and good. I made the mistake of stopping at mile 6 for more than one minute to stretch out and my body cooled off a bit. This resulted in me FREEZING when I started up again. I had sweat so much that it instantly started cooling my body when I stopped (ya know, like it's supposed to do.) I put up my miles though and I'm proud of myself for that. My pace was a bit quicker than my last long run pace which makes me incredibly happy.
Tomorrow the training plan calls for "cross training." I'll be doing yoga and probably abs and arms. I'll holler at you folks later :-)
No comments:
Post a Comment