So, you’re obviously all very familiar with those negative thoughts and weak excuses that try to pop into your mind after running/biking/swimming long distances. What keeps you going? How do you stay motivated? What’s your secret? And, why do you keep going?
- Vanity
- Taking pleasure in doing things that other people simply can’t do
- Boredom
- Need to competitive outlet after 30+ hours a week of collegiate and amateur level sport
- Health reasons
To see how much I can take.
I haven’t broken yet.
I keep training because I know I can keep getting faster. I also take pride in my consistency and laying it down when the plan says lay it down. I don’t miss workouts, or at least not that I can remember (except that one the day before our vacation to Hawaii where I was smoked to bits). On top of it, I can eat whatever I want and my dogs are happy with all the exercise that they get. My philosophy is part train with joy or not it all and part git 'er done.
I always remember the times I tried to get the point across to my daughter about X-country / Track. Things about laying it all out there, never giving up, pushing it hardest when it is the hardest. When I feel myself slowing down or starting to mental lose the grip, I remember those words and realize that the most hypocritical thing I could ever do is not follow my own advice.
To show my children that no matter what, you can do anything you put your mind to and that it is ok to suffer. For myself to know that I can carry through with something I set out to do. Oh, yeah I kind of like the training as well.
Backstory is that I used to weigh 320, smoke two packs a day, etc etc.
The smell of dreams
which I must consume
So, you’re obviously all very familiar with those negative thoughts and weak excuses that try to pop into your mind after running/biking/swimming long distances. What keeps you going? How do you stay motivated? What’s your secret? And, why do you keep going?
My philosophy is this:
Chances are, you’re going to suffer before you die. For most people, it will be a substantial amount. I figure I have two options.
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Not endure much struggle right now, i.e. overeat, not get enough exercise, smoke, etc… as is the case with many(and I would be tempted to say the majority). This route will generally kick ass and feel great for a decade or so, after which some consequences will arise. Health problems will pile up as the years go on. Self-esteem might slip a bit. Muscle loss. Weight gain. Weakened immune system. Weakened cardiovascular system. Eventually these will often compile into conditions like heart disease, diabetes, respiratory disease, etc… Those symptoms and conditions will be the suffering of that route.
-
Train hard now. At least harder than is the average. Go through discomfort for a couple hours a day. Some will be mild discomfort, some will be pretty intense, but it will be suffering of my own choosing. Eat decently. Watch tv/be lazy when i have time. Stay the hell away from smoking except for when there’s a good (read “free”) cigar around. This route will not make me immortal. I’m still fairly young, but I expect the metabolism will slow. Might gain a smidge of weight. Muscles won’t be as strong when I’m 60 as they are now. Some joint stiffness. That mile time might crap out a little. But I won’t be obese. I’ll still be strong enough to whip my grandkids in a wrestling match. My heart will still beat like a drum. I’ll still be able to hold my breath for more than a minute. I won’t have to look at my bike and laugh at the impossibilty of mounting it. And if I keep my wits about form, good shoes and not running on pavement, I’ll still be able to run down Summit ave and back.
So I guess for me it’s a matter of suffer now or suffer later.
God…seriously. I credit Him to my ability to go when I don’t want to and when I’m lost in pain or self doubt. I don’t draw strength simply from within me but from my desire to go past what I know I can do so that I can experience what God can do through me.
I like pain and suffering
.
I highly suggest reading Once A Runner by John L. Parker, Jr. Especially the “Breaking Down” chapter…
“The question that plagues the runner undergoing breakdown training is: Why Am I Living Like This? The question eventually becomes: Is This Living?”… seems pretty relevant to this thread. Here are a couple quotes that sum up some of my thoughts pretty well.
“…for those who cannot deal with successfully (or evade successfully) the consequences of their singular objective will simply fade away from it all and go on to less arduous pursuits. there has probably never been one yet who has done so, however, without leaving a part of himself there in the quiet tiled solace of the early afternoon locker room, knotting his loathsome smelling laces for yet another, jesus god, ten-miler with the boys. Once a runner.” – sometimes what keeps me going is the thought of the alternative. If I weren’t training hard, could I live with myself?
“Quenton Cassidy’s method of dealing with fundamental doubts was simple: He didn’t think about them at all. These questions had been considered a long time ago, decisions were made, answers recorded, and the book closed. If it had to be re-opened every time the going got rough, he would spend more tie rationalizing than training; his log would start to disclose embarassing information, perhaps blank squares.” – I think for a lot of us we don’t think twice anymore. We just do it. Live like a clock.
Speaking of living like a clock, read the sequel Again to Carthage. There is some great stuff in that one too… being in a state where you know, through all of your hardwork, that you are better today than you were yesterday. There is a line I really like in there… something about there is no doubt in your mind that the arrow of time parrallels the arrow of improvement, and in the same direction. Sadly, we all reach a point where this can’t be true anymore… and when it does, I want to be able to remember these times without any regrets.
And one more for maybe a bit of a scare tactic: “Cassidy very early on understood that a true runner ran even when he didn’t feel like it, and raced when he was supposed to, without excuses and with nothing held back. He ran to win, would die in the process if necessary, and was unimpressed by those who disavowed such a base motivation. you are not allowed to renounce that which you never possesed, he thought.”