motivation

CAMP HTFU 2007

One of my former students emailed me this morning to ask me how I stay motivated. She is doing the Rochester 1/2 marathon tomorrow and her long term goal is to compete in a natural body building competition next March. Actually she has two lined up. She admitted to sometimes losing motivation to do her workouts and follow her diet.... and I could identify.

I thought it was a great question.

While I admit that I was born with a tremendous amount of motivation, there have been times that I too have struggled. I have been in this sport about 12 years now, and honestly the last 3 seasons have brought more disappointment than achievement. Injury, falling short of time goals, etc.

However I will say that Ironman Florida was the shot in the arm I needed. That's carried me through all of the difficulties I have had this season. Even with my crash 2 days ago. Things are getting better but truthfully I worry that I won't compete next weekend.

Give me 2 more days to work this out.

Those small moments of achievement, and that one big moment like Ironman Florida 2007, those help me stay motivated. Why? Because I know that I can do it. I may face every hurdle on earth on my way, but this streak of difficulties has ended and the lessons I have learned along the way are much more important than the ones you learn from winning.

In 2004 I won 14 out of 15 races and set the Musselman 1/2 IM record in 4:48. Honestly I learned nothing from all of that. Nothing.

It's the past 3 seasons that I have learned. When I have fallen (literally) DNF'd..... its almost as if there is a natural progression of this whole thing. We can't have the good without the bad.

But back to motivation.

I see it a lot when people sign up for the Ironman. You have to sign up a year in advance. The biggest athletic goal of your life has been set. Paid for. Locked down. You know where you will be on that day in 2009. It's as if it is so far away you want to get psyched for it and you want to start the training right here and right now.

Let a few weeks and a few months pass. Let be January 15th at 5am when you are rolling out of bed for a run. It's dark, winter, the plows are out. The goal is far away. The motivation may seem low.

The excitement you feel when you hit submit will fade, and you should let it. It's a long year.

Start by setting smaller goals. Weekly goals, monthly goals and / or quarterly goals. By quarterly goals I mean...... aim for a particular 10K or 1/2 marathon. Then the next quarter it might be time for another road race, then maybe a particular triathlon, or a few. A longer ride. Anything.

As you look at your season don't just plop Ironman on the calendar and not know what else you would like to do. There are stepping stones to get there. The road races, the 1/2 Ironmans. Etc.

Set small goals along the way.

The next thing I think is important is along the same lines of planning a progression of your season. Let volume build, segway into intensity segments. Work on your weakness. Don't forget about recovery.

Training for a big event isn't about 52 weeks of 100% focus. It's a progression. It's building volume and recovering from the workload. It's shifting the focus to help you improve your weakness and build on your strengths.

What it comes down to honestly is taking things one step at a time.

The third piece of advice I would give...... love what you are doing.

With all of my setbacks I can honestly say I have not ever felt like I wanted to quit my sport. Every single day I look forward to the swim the bike and the run. I feel happy to be doing it. (There are days when I get out there and I don't feel happy..... those days I go home.)

This sport has enriched my life in so many ways. Beyond titles and awards and nominations and records...... I have met so many truly amazing people that I am so blessed to call my friends and family. I came into this sport to find myself. I did that. What I didn't come here to find was the community. That was a great big bonus.

So not only do I love this sport, I adore all of the people it has crossed my paths with. That's the biggest motivation of all. The people I have met have inspired me, cried with me, hell one even married me.

The day I stepped foot into that first open water swim I was just hoping to get to the finish line. While I did just that, the experiences a long the way have managed to take my breath away.

So I shall tell my friend, whom I am so very proud of to search deep and reveal the reason she has set those goals in the first place. I will tell her to plan her training with stepping stones that all lead to the big event in March. I will tell her to find the joy within her training and within herself. And I will tell her to treasure the people she shall meet along the way.

And I will remind her to not get so focused on the end result, the big day that she missed everything that will happen along the way.