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Half-Marathon Must-Have: Motivation

November 26, 2013
Half-Marathon Training/Running, Sidebar
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011E4552-44CA-4D2E-AD8A-194D2B3DEF8CAccording to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, motivation is defined as “the act or process of giving someone a reason for doing something; the condition of being eager to act or work; a force or influence that causes someone to do something.” According to people? Well it depends. It can be found in one person, a group of people, a breakfast taco, a pint of beer, a past/future event…the list could go on and on.

Despite this never-ending list, there are still moments where I feel completely unmotivated. In theory, it seems impossible. In practice, it’s easier than I care to admit.

Running and training for the Austin Half is all I think about now. Am I eating properly? Should I have cross-trained today? Did I get enough sleep? It has affected me in more ways than I thought it would. Again, if you’re just coming into the conversation: the Austin Half Marathon is my first half marathon event, my first running event, my first exercise-related event. It’s a big deal to me. On top of that, this is the first sibling exercise-related event that my brother and I are doing together.

So back to motivation. Everyday is a struggle. I started running at the beginning of the year for two reasons:

  1. I was reading The Power of Habit.
  2. I needed an outlet for my feelings.

The Power of Habit talks about this habit loop, which is the way [the author] Charles Duhigg said we developed our habits. There’s a cue, the habit, and the reward (tangible or intangible). Needless to say, I turned running into a habit when I was cued by feelings and the reward was a smoothie. Well, at first it was a smoothie and it transitioned to something more intangible: a clear mind. I ran and ran and ran until I had no feelings. Jk, I ran until I got injured.

There’s a lesson in here I swear. After I healed from my injury, wherever I was in my mind, I didn’t have as many feelings and so I had no idea why I was running. There wasn’t a cue for me, I didn’t feel inclined to run. So what happened? Did Thu lose her soul?

No, no I didn’t. But since I’ve started training, really training, my motivation needed to change. My running cue started at my own feelings, but turned into something else. One day I was running for food, another day I would run for my brother, two weeks ago, I dedicated my long run to BatKid (5 miles for each year he fought cancer).

So This Is What I’m Going To Say About Motivation:

  • You have to find it. Whether it is yourself, your tacos, your favorite quote from your favorite author, your mom, or your dog. You’ve got to find something or someone.
  • It’s not easy. I’d be delusional to think that it’s easy. I usually text someone when I prep myself for a run. Sometimes they get back to me, sometimes they don’t. I think the action of me telling someone I’m going to run, commits me to do it. Maybe try that out, I don’t know. It’s all a learning process.
  • I guess as I’m typing this, I’m realizing that there can be a transition of motivation as long as it’s getting you to your goal. For whatever reason, I thought this wasn’t possible. Sometimes I run a little slower because my motivation isn’t as strong, but at least I committed to the day and I did the run/cross-train. You have to start somewhere, right?
  • Lastly, sometimes I tell myself I can’t eat until after I run. I read in Runner’s World that if you’re working out for less than 30 minutes, you can get by without eating. On those days, it’s hard on both ends, I’m hungry and I’m over-exhausted toward the end of my run. But when I get to the finish line (aka my apartment)? Oh sweet tacos and soda, you’re all mine. (Soda = simple sugars, stop judging me.)

So tell me, what or who is your motivation?

Sidebar: I don’t know how runners do it, but I’m starting to

March 3, 2013
Half-Marathon Training/Running, Sidebar
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I had to write this before the adrenaline and endorphins run out.

February 27th marked my “one-month” anniversary of exercising- in other words, I have consistently been exercising for a whole month. While I may reside with the outliers that do not exercise (or that’s how I feel), this is kind of a big deal. Rewind to 10th-grade-me and ask her if I exercise. She would say, “What’s that? What’s a gym? I have running shoes but I don’t use them.”

[Sidebar to sidebar: Cycling is different than running if you are thinking about that now]

Last-month-me struggled but oddly, I kept pushing through. I’ve been reading this book called The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business and it’s kind of my jam. I love reading books that are nonfiction. ALTHOUGH, I do have to say, I didn’t realize that this book would influence me like it has. There’s this thing called the “habit loop”, it’s fascinating, talk to me about it. I didn’t know that this book would prove something to me. (I know that’s weird to say, but it makes sense in my head) The first day is just as hard as the last day of the month and now I realize that it will be this way until I stop. This is a harsh reality (like many things in life, ha!).

But coming back from my first 5-mile run (YEAH BUDDY!), I’ve had a revelation of sorts: I GET IT. I GET IT, RUNNERS. Sort of. Although I’ve only been running for a month, I understand the solace you find in it (almost like the peace I find in grocery shopping). Granted, it’s slower than cycling and I feel like I get dehydrated much faster, but there is something different** about it.

For the first two weeks, I couldn’t break 3 miles and this was upsetting. I thought to myself, “I can break 5 miles on my bike easy, why is this so difficult?” But I kept going, the habit was slowly building, I wanted to see if this “habit loop” theory worked. Every time I found myself sitting idly on the computer surfing the internet, I got myself out of the house to run. I changed my cue of surfing the internet and sitting into running.

A month later, here I am, sitting in my sweat, writing this post. Does this mean the “habit loop” theory worked? What length of time constitutes a success? I don’t know, I haven’t finished the book! But here’s something different**: I like it. I feel a craving to run which is odd, because I usually feel a craving for bacon but now that’s now replaced with an apple. So maybe this theory is working, but it’s definitely something I cannot speak too soon about.

Note to loved ones: If I stop exercising, please throw an apple at me and get me to run or cycle, we all need a little help sometimes.

Note to runners: How do you stay hydrated? I usually make my route that passes water fountains but is there some secret you’re all holding out on me? Let me know.

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One time I ran…to the Farmers Market so I could get a tamale. Oops.