Owning Your Personal Motivation
The idea for this week's post came from an article I read a couple of months ago, written by former Olympic runner Alan Culpepper. The article, linked below, is actually an excerpt from his book, "Run Like a Champion: An Olympian's Approach for Every Runner", and it discusses the need to recognize the driving force behind the reason you run, or why you want to reach a particular goal. It's a brief read, and the rest of the blog will likely flow better if you check it out first:
http://running.competitor.com/2018/03/training/the-first-step-to-developing-a-psychology-of-success_169842
I thought this article was great, and in particular I connected with the idea of knowing what your true motivation is, as you will need it to drive you on days when you don't really want to get out and train. I've stated many times that my primary driving force right now with running is improving my times, and the knowledge that that won't happen without grinding through my workouts is all I need to get me out the door most days.
After I read this article and sat with the idea for a few days, a related thought came to mind: it is one thing to know what your motivation is; it is another to accept it completely.
On the surface, that statement might seem odd. If you have a personal motivation for running, and you know that it is what keeps you going, why wouldn't you accept it? Well, like many things in life, sometimes the influence of others can lead us off track, often without us even noticing it.
In any group of runners, you will find many different personal reasons as to why they run. Some are like me and focus mainly on times. Others do it primarily for fitness. For many they simply enjoy the exercise and the time outdoors. Whatever your reason is, it has likely been influenced by your own life and experience, and therefore is personal to you.
The problem that we can run into sometimes is negatively comparing our reason for running with someone else's. As a runner who is usually focused and diligent with my paces, distances, etc. when running, I can sometimes feel as though I'm missing out on the sheer enjoyment of going out for a run on a nice sunny day. At times, that could make me question if my motivation is "wrong".
Conversely, I've seen people who started off running just because they liked getting outside and enjoying a run get wrapped up in the routine of grinding out intervals to try to improve their times, and ultimately lose much of the joy they originally had for the sport. In a situation like that, it can be easy to assume you just don't really enjoy running as much as you thought you did; really, it could just be that you changed your motivation, and your passion went right along with it.
At the end of the day, I think it's important for us all to do exactly as the title of this post states: Own Your Personal Motivation. It's yours, no one else's. Therefore, it can't be wrong.
That doesn't mean you can't change things up, and learning new ways to experience something you already enjoy is fantastic. But never feel like your way of doing it is "wrong" if it keeps you coming back for more. And if you do try a new approach and find that it takes away that joy, step back, search for that internal motivation, and own it. You'll be thankful that you did.
Weekly Summary (May 14-May 27)
Mon.: Off
Tue. (Lunch): 9 min warmup, 1 x 2km (4:01/km) w/ 3 min recovery, 2 x 1km (3:58/km / 4:17/km) w/ 2 min recovery, 2 x 500m (3:56/km / 3:54/km) w/ 90s recovery, 11 min cooldown (Workout total: 9.9 km, 50:27, 5:05/km pace)
Wed. (Lunch): 7.5 km, 38:32, 5:08/km pace
Thu. (Lunch): 10.5 min warmup, 1 x 12.5 min + 2 x 7.5 min (4:27/km / 4:14/km / 4:17/km) w/ 3 min recovery, 7.5 min cooldown (Workout total: 11.2 km, 54:42, 4:53/km pace)
Fri.: Off
Sat. (Afternoon): 7.1 km, 36:29, 5:08/km pace
Sun. (Morning): 16.4 km, 1:29:44, 5:28/km pace
Mon.: Off
Tue. (Morning): 7 min warmup, 10 x 200m (3:20/km) w/ 80s recovery, 7' cooldown (Workout total: 6.6 km, 34:00, 5:08/km pace) [treadmill]
Wed.-Sun.: Off
Total: 58.7 km
So....training went off the rails this week. That's what I get for going to Vegas for a week in the middle of my Tely training!
Two weeks back, I suffered through two hard workouts on Tuesday and Thursday. For both, the wind was brutal in one direction, and if you look at my splits it's very easy to tell when I was running in which direction. Aside from the wind, I just felt generally tired that week, and my legs were actually heavy on Thursday before I even started my workout. The good news was that the training plan that Dave has us on right now called for a relaxed week after that one (this past week), so I'd get a chance to recover.
I finished up the week of May 14-20 with a couple of runs in Milton, Ontario, where I was staying with my aunt and uncle on my way to Vegas. It's a beautiful town to run in, and my uncle even got to join me for the last 10km of my long run on Sunday, so that was a great way to cap off my first 4 weeks of Tely training.
Unfortunately, Vegas was not near as favourable for my training. I did manage to knock off an interval workout on the treadmill Tuesday morning, and had full intentions of getting my tempo workout done on the treadmill on Thursday. Three straight nights of terrible sleep due to the time change coupled with a 16 hour road trip to Death Valley provided me with a nice head cold to stop that plan. Not only that, but the cold came home with me and prevented me from getting either of my runs in this weekend. So after 4 good weeks of Tely training, I got exactly one run in for week 5. Uh oh.
Needless to say, I'm not overly happy with that development, and I'm sure it's not ideal. But all I can do at this point is rest up, hope I'm ready to get back at my workouts starting Tuesday, and continue the grind. We can't control certain aspects of our life/training, and once they are in the past all we can do is move on. I'll likely curse this week in late July if I miss my goal, but the plan right now is to do everything I can for the next two months to prevent that cursing from being required!
That's all for this week. I'm trying to decide whether to keep up the weekly schedule with the blog or decrease it going forward. If nothing else, I may just start posting weekly training recaps, and doing a post once or twice a month with a more in-depth lead in. I really appreciate anyone who takes the time to read and provide feedback, and I know many of you read primarily for the stuff before the training recap. The problem is I've already written 19 of these this year, and honestly I'm running out of ideas. Haha So, we'll see how it proceeds going forward. Thanks as always for reading. Cheers!
http://running.competitor.com/2018/03/training/the-first-step-to-developing-a-psychology-of-success_169842
I thought this article was great, and in particular I connected with the idea of knowing what your true motivation is, as you will need it to drive you on days when you don't really want to get out and train. I've stated many times that my primary driving force right now with running is improving my times, and the knowledge that that won't happen without grinding through my workouts is all I need to get me out the door most days.
After I read this article and sat with the idea for a few days, a related thought came to mind: it is one thing to know what your motivation is; it is another to accept it completely.
On the surface, that statement might seem odd. If you have a personal motivation for running, and you know that it is what keeps you going, why wouldn't you accept it? Well, like many things in life, sometimes the influence of others can lead us off track, often without us even noticing it.
In any group of runners, you will find many different personal reasons as to why they run. Some are like me and focus mainly on times. Others do it primarily for fitness. For many they simply enjoy the exercise and the time outdoors. Whatever your reason is, it has likely been influenced by your own life and experience, and therefore is personal to you.
The problem that we can run into sometimes is negatively comparing our reason for running with someone else's. As a runner who is usually focused and diligent with my paces, distances, etc. when running, I can sometimes feel as though I'm missing out on the sheer enjoyment of going out for a run on a nice sunny day. At times, that could make me question if my motivation is "wrong".
Conversely, I've seen people who started off running just because they liked getting outside and enjoying a run get wrapped up in the routine of grinding out intervals to try to improve their times, and ultimately lose much of the joy they originally had for the sport. In a situation like that, it can be easy to assume you just don't really enjoy running as much as you thought you did; really, it could just be that you changed your motivation, and your passion went right along with it.
At the end of the day, I think it's important for us all to do exactly as the title of this post states: Own Your Personal Motivation. It's yours, no one else's. Therefore, it can't be wrong.
That doesn't mean you can't change things up, and learning new ways to experience something you already enjoy is fantastic. But never feel like your way of doing it is "wrong" if it keeps you coming back for more. And if you do try a new approach and find that it takes away that joy, step back, search for that internal motivation, and own it. You'll be thankful that you did.
Weekly Summary (May 14-May 27)
Mon.: Off
Tue. (Lunch): 9 min warmup, 1 x 2km (4:01/km) w/ 3 min recovery, 2 x 1km (3:58/km / 4:17/km) w/ 2 min recovery, 2 x 500m (3:56/km / 3:54/km) w/ 90s recovery, 11 min cooldown (Workout total: 9.9 km, 50:27, 5:05/km pace)
Wed. (Lunch): 7.5 km, 38:32, 5:08/km pace
Thu. (Lunch): 10.5 min warmup, 1 x 12.5 min + 2 x 7.5 min (4:27/km / 4:14/km / 4:17/km) w/ 3 min recovery, 7.5 min cooldown (Workout total: 11.2 km, 54:42, 4:53/km pace)
Fri.: Off
Sat. (Afternoon): 7.1 km, 36:29, 5:08/km pace
Sun. (Morning): 16.4 km, 1:29:44, 5:28/km pace
Mon.: Off
Tue. (Morning): 7 min warmup, 10 x 200m (3:20/km) w/ 80s recovery, 7' cooldown (Workout total: 6.6 km, 34:00, 5:08/km pace) [treadmill]
Wed.-Sun.: Off
Total: 58.7 km
So....training went off the rails this week. That's what I get for going to Vegas for a week in the middle of my Tely training!
Two weeks back, I suffered through two hard workouts on Tuesday and Thursday. For both, the wind was brutal in one direction, and if you look at my splits it's very easy to tell when I was running in which direction. Aside from the wind, I just felt generally tired that week, and my legs were actually heavy on Thursday before I even started my workout. The good news was that the training plan that Dave has us on right now called for a relaxed week after that one (this past week), so I'd get a chance to recover.
I finished up the week of May 14-20 with a couple of runs in Milton, Ontario, where I was staying with my aunt and uncle on my way to Vegas. It's a beautiful town to run in, and my uncle even got to join me for the last 10km of my long run on Sunday, so that was a great way to cap off my first 4 weeks of Tely training.
Unfortunately, Vegas was not near as favourable for my training. I did manage to knock off an interval workout on the treadmill Tuesday morning, and had full intentions of getting my tempo workout done on the treadmill on Thursday. Three straight nights of terrible sleep due to the time change coupled with a 16 hour road trip to Death Valley provided me with a nice head cold to stop that plan. Not only that, but the cold came home with me and prevented me from getting either of my runs in this weekend. So after 4 good weeks of Tely training, I got exactly one run in for week 5. Uh oh.
Needless to say, I'm not overly happy with that development, and I'm sure it's not ideal. But all I can do at this point is rest up, hope I'm ready to get back at my workouts starting Tuesday, and continue the grind. We can't control certain aspects of our life/training, and once they are in the past all we can do is move on. I'll likely curse this week in late July if I miss my goal, but the plan right now is to do everything I can for the next two months to prevent that cursing from being required!
That's all for this week. I'm trying to decide whether to keep up the weekly schedule with the blog or decrease it going forward. If nothing else, I may just start posting weekly training recaps, and doing a post once or twice a month with a more in-depth lead in. I really appreciate anyone who takes the time to read and provide feedback, and I know many of you read primarily for the stuff before the training recap. The problem is I've already written 19 of these this year, and honestly I'm running out of ideas. Haha So, we'll see how it proceeds going forward. Thanks as always for reading. Cheers!
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