Motivation Along the Timeline

Running, like most sports or any activity that requires a great deal of practice, also requires a great deal of commitment and discipline in order to do it well. Although each person has their own goal for where they want to take their running/kayaking/writing, etc. For some, the goal is to finish a 5K; others want to complete 10 ultra marathons. There's certainly no single achievement that every runner must reach to consider themselves accomplished.

But I would venture to say that every runner who sticks with the sport at any level, must possess something inside, some drive or personal reason for continuing to get out there and run 3 miles every morning or 120 miles every week. Of course whatever that fire might be is different for each runner, but I think at some point, we all have some basic desire that gets up and out the door.

That's what I took away from the article in the Sunday New York Times about Ryan Hall and his close linking of running with his Christian beliefs. Without getting into a discussion on religion, I'll just say I'm not particularly religious, although I was raised in the Episcopalian Church and have both an interest and respect for religion and those who are ardent believers/practitioners.

So, I found Sunday's article interesting because it discusses both Hall's personal beliefs when it comes to running and faith, and addresses a key area of recreational running that I thin often goes overlooked: motivation. Everyone is motivated to voluntarily go run around a few miles several times a week. But the actual substance of that motivation varies widely.

I guess for me, my motivation can be broken into two parts: short-term and long-term. Short-term (i.e. over the next six months to one year) I want to just feel better, fitter than I was walking out of the CFA exam a month ago. I want to get back to the point where I can run a half marathon. I felt better, physically and mentally, when I was running upwards of 15 mile long runs.

Longer term, I guess you could say my motivation is to extend the longer term. While 30 (my current age) isn't old by really any modern definition (although in the 12th century in Europe, I'd be well along towards late middle age, but that's another entry for another day), I know that eventually, things will slow down and what seems easy now won't seem so easy in maybe 10 or 15 years, much less further down the line. So, I want to get into healthy habits now, so when I'm 60 or, ideally, 90(!) I won't feel or act my age. I'm not really afraid of aging, per se, but of the amplification of the effects of aging when one doesn't establish healthy habits earlier in life. Running is one part of that, of course, but healthier eating, sleeping and mental outlook are also big parts over the longer term.

I guess I'd also add a medium term motivation, although it's more of a goal. Medium term, to me, means around five years out, just to be specific. I watched the Ironman World Championships this weekend on NBC; it's one of my favorite sporting events to watch, even if it's not live and it's edited, etc. I like that they profile both the pros and age groupers competing in the event. It's inspiring to see, for example, a guy who lost both legs in an accident complete the course, or a woman who used to weigh over 300 pounds but lost nearly half that, become an Ironman (Ironwoman? Ironperson?). It's also insane to watch the pros do the 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and then top it all off with a 26.2 marathon in the Hawaiian heat. And do it in under 8 hours. Just crazy to me.

Got a hankering for some Ironman clips? Here's a link to the Ironman YouTube channel.

But every time I watch it, I find myself saying, that would be cool to do. So I'd like to build toward that goal, although it'll take some time. Firstly, I don't own a road bike, nor do I have easy access to a pool, so a big part of the training remains out of my reach at this point. But also, until further notice, every six months I start a new training program of sorts with the CFA exam. By the time April and May roll around, I'm spending as much time studying per day as I would training for an Ironman. Doing both, for me, at least, is unreasonable.

So, until those small, tiny details are resolved, I'll focus on building up my mileage base and getting consistent in getting out the door or to the gym. And I've promised myself that when I get done with the CFA program, I'm buying myself a road bike. So there's some more motivation!