Two Great Training Tips

Lack of motivation is just like an injury. If your training gets too mundane, then lethargy or lack of motivation may cause you skip workouts. And a skipped workout is just that. Your body doesn't know if you have a broken leg, Dengue Fever, or just can't pull yourself away from the "Top Chef" marathon. It only knows that you're not stressing the system, so it is not being given the opportunity to adapt and improve.

So, here are two tips to increase your motivation. One, take some time off. Do it when your healthy, not when injury or illness forces you to the sidelines. I just finished 2 weeks of a self-imposed running moratorium. It was post-marathon, when I would not have been doing any quality running anyway. My risk of injury was high. With the exception of a week in October, and a couple of sick days here and there, I had run 35-55 miles per week, every week, for the past year. I suspect that is typical of most runners. So in the larger scheme, 14 days off is no big deal. I had no problems "not" working out the first week, when I remained sore from the marathon (and sick). By the second week, however, I was itching to run. But you just have to resist the temptation. Reward the body with rest a little longer, and it will pay dividends down the road.

Here's the second tip: At the end of your moratorium, go watch a race. Don't participate -- just go watch. This weekend, I went to Tullahoma to watch The Trauma Whisperer participate in the Mach Tenn Triathlon. This was her first triathlon, and she put in a solid performance. The Trauma Whisperer brings a certain intensity to everything she does, and she was so serious about competing that she even shaved her legs. You can see some action shots here.

My point, however, is that when I was at the Mach Tenn, I was going crazy having to stand on the sidelines in my street clothes. I wanted to race, to suffer. I love this quote from President Theodore Roosevelt:

It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.

Well, I wanted to be in the arena. As Turtle would say, I was "set to pop." So as I come out of my moratorium, I am salivating with anticipation. My legs are rested and my mind is motivated. Let the new training cycle begin. I am ready to spend myself for a worthy cause.

Tags: marathon, triathlon, endurance training, motivation