Starting over: Motivation

AKA Check ya head

Happy New Year to the RP crew. I hope everyone’s running year is off to a strong start. I’ve been thinking a lot about goals and potential races in 2024, but I can’t help taking one last glance back at the past year. 

On the one hand, 2023 was a series of massive disappointments. My A Race was canceled, and I suffered my first ever DNF during the replacement event. Even my “successful” race was strange. I sort of set a new 50K PR, just not officially. 

Still, when I look back on the past year I see immense amounts of growth, both as a runner and a human. You’ll have to comb through the archives for more specific examples, but it’s all there in some form. 

My big accomplishment was managing to sneak over the 1,900 mile barrier for the first time. That was super cool. Then a new year began and my mileage returned to zero. Just another reminder that starting over is an ingrained element of the running journey.  

As promised, we’re going to make this week’s Starting Over post free and unlocked for everyone. Think of this series as a friendly guide for getting back out there with a refreshed body, mind, and spirit. 

Speaking of the body, when we left in December, we were talking about incorporating strength training following my failed attempts at running a Boston Qualifying time. While it’s never fun discussing personal setbacks, a lifetime of covering pro sports taught me that lessons are learned in losses more than triumphs. 

Anyone can experience the thrill of victory. How you bounce back from the agony of defeat will tell you a lot more about yourself. Champions may be remembered for their successes, but they will all tell you their victories were forged in the fiery pits of despair. The tough loss. The humiliating setback. These moments are all part of the athlete’s journey, just as they are for each and every one of you who gets out and goes for a run. 

You may not think of yourself as an athlete, but guess what? You are! 

We all have ups and downs and injuries just like the elites. And we’re all subject to the mind games athletes have been playing with themselves for centuries. You think Pheidippides didn’t have to psyche himself up to get from Marathon to Athens? Dude couldn’t even listen to a podcast. 

Whether you’re trying to motivate yourself for a big workout, or attempting to calm yourself down in the face of adversity, the mental piece of this puzzle is just as important as the physical. I would argue the mental side is even more important because it’s nearly impossible to build momentum without some form of motivation. 

Ah, but motivation is a tricky thing. What sounds good on paper – or in your head – doesn’t always translate to real-life results. For example, my Big Lofty Goal of qualifying for Boston carried the double burden of being incredibly specific as well as exceptionally difficult. 

Nabbing a BQ was a cool goal and it wasn’t totally unrealistic. It just wasn’t very likely given my lack of experience. Without a frame of reference, or an individualized training plan, I unwittingly set myself up to fail. Twice. 

Let’s not do that this time. 

Take some time to examine your motivation: In the spring of 2013, I decided to give running another try. My reasons for running again were many, but they essentially boiled down to two main areas of focus. One, I wanted to see what I could do if I really applied myself. And two, I wanted to set an example for my son who was six months from being born. 

More than a decade later, I can say with some amount of pride that I’m doing pretty well on both counts. With proper training and focus, I’ve been able to consistently surprise myself as a runner. Most importantly, I believe I’ve set a positive example for my son. 

(If you'll indulge me a Dad brag: My guy just ran a sub-22 minute 5K and won his age group. I figure I have another year, maybe two, before he leaves me completely in the dust.)  

Dropping the hammer.

While I’ve tried to keep my priorities aligned with my values, those early years were also defined by a need for external validation. For whatever reasons, my internal compass was all kinds of damaged. When things went my way, running was easy. When they didn’t, running was a struggle. 

What made that inner conflict so maddening was there never seemed to be any rhyme or reason for good runs or bad runs. It was like they just appeared out of nowhere. Every time I tried to hold on to those blissed out moments of effortless running, the harder they were to maintain. Those periods of dull stagnation, however, seemed to drag on interminably. 

Like a lot of people, I’m my own worst critic. It’s taken several years of unraveling to realize that my true competition lies only with myself, and that it really doesn’t matter what other people think about my running. What matters is how I feel about what I’m doing. (And also how my family feels.) 

My motivation is my own, just like your inner drive belongs to you. It can keep you going in times of need and carry you further than you ever thought possible. Just don’t confuse ambition with motivation because that’s a one way ticket to heartbreak, kid. 

Set reasonably attainable short-term goals: It’s great to have a Big Dream pushing you, but it’s even better to find meaningful ways to challenge yourself on a daily basis. In the beginning, this can be anything from getting out the door to getting up the big hill without stopping. 

As you progress, your short-term goals should evolve. Hopefully, it’s not such a big deal to get out the door in the morning anymore. Maybe after running that big hill for a few weeks, it’s little more than a minor nuisance on your way to bigger and bolder horizons. 

Creating a mental framework that celebrates your everyday effort takes, well, effort. Start small with attainable goals. Allow your running to develop naturally. Let the process be the process and your performance will take care of itself. 

Setting attainable goals doesn’t mean trying to set Strava Segments PRs on every run. Oftentimes, it means the exact opposite. On your next easy run, challenge yourself to ignore pace entirely while staying within a certain heart rate range. 

At the same time, treat workouts like work. Approach them seriously. Prioritize getting a good night’s sleep and doing them first thing in the morning. And then, rest and recover accordingly. 

Focus on effort rather than results. If the effort is right, the pacing doesn’t really matter. Here’s a little mantra I say to myself all the time: You are not defined by your splits. 

No matter how hard you’re running, if you’re feeling stressed about your job/life/family, make an effort to check all that baggage before you head out the door. It will all be waiting for you when you get back anyway. 

Oh his? Just an 8-mile tempo to kickstart the year.

Every run is a chance to start over: When you run, you are literally starting over each and every time. The clock starts with all zeroes, just like the pedometer, and the elevation gain. So does your brain, when you think about it. 

We all know that it does us no good to be stuck in the past or dreaming about the future. The present moment is where the action is, so why not just concentrate on that and let everything else go? Easier said than done, granted. Still, staying present is a mental strategy you are free to employ. 

Before I go out for a run, I think to myself: What are my goals for the day? Sometimes they’re specific – 8 miles at 7:15 pace, for example. Other times they’re squishier. (Have fun and look for coyotes usually works for me.) Rarely are they similar from one day to the next. The variety is what makes every run interesting. 

Of course, your running goes deeper than a moment by moment existence. Every year is a chance to develop. Every training cycle offers a new experience. Every month provides a fresh challenge. Every week presents a unique set of circumstances and every day is a chance to start over. 

Let’s go get it.