January 17th, 2010 was going to be my first run that is longer than 13.1 miles. With each long run, I seem to compose a new blog post in my head. When someone comes up with the technology to translate my stream of thoughts directly to an eBlogger post, I will be forever grateful (and slightly worried) because I have fallen into this lovely habit of typing in my thoughts and notes directly into a draft post as soon as I am done running with every intention of writing a full post as soon as I stretch, shower and eat. Yeah, that clearly has worked out REALLY well since this particular post was drafted on January 17th and I'm now writing it on February 20th. I am still dating it Jan. 17th and I'm probably breaking some major law of the blogdom world by doing so. Oh well.
So I almost didn't do this run. My right leg was really sore in a particular spot for the first time during all of my training. And because this kind of training is new to me, I wasn't sure if my soreness was "normal" or an alarm. I am terrified of injury and very aware that most injuries could be prevented if the warning signs were listened too. So was this a warning sign?
Well, I decided to run anyway, And during the run, I thought a lot about motivation. As in, why, despite this strange soreness in my upper right leg, was I running? What motivated me today? In fact, what motivated me to train for this marathon at all? Or train for anything? Or do anything on any given day? Ok, now I'm getting a little too broad...but think about it: everyday we are motivated by something or someone to do whatever we do. And those motivations are always changing and in transisiton, if you will (Got to sneak that releationship in there somehow, right?)
What motivates you to train, to race, to support others who do the same?
Here is a list of what I think my motivations were for this particular run, one that I really wasn't sure if I should do, but I did it anyway:
1. Its in my training plan. And after all, to us endurance junkies, the training plan is pretty much a Bible of sorts. If its in there, we better do it no matter what or else we'll feel guilt, remorse, and sadness that we'll confess to everyone on Daily Mile or Twitter or our blog that we screwed up and then we'll go out and do double the training the next day as penance. (Sorry, I was raised Catholic, I can't help the reference.) Of course, this does not mean its a proper motivation, but it is one nonetheless.
2. This week I was back to work on a TV show, filling in for a friend, and I knew that there was not way I could get a long run in during the week. Since work (including drivetime) took about 14 hours each day, there physically would not be enough hours unless I gave up sleep. Uh, no thanks.
3. I was curious. I had never run more than a 13.1, even in my half-ironman training, so I was very curious to see how this run would go. I suppose that some would call it a sickness, rather than a curious nature. To each his or her own.
4. Along the lines of "sickness", I also wanted to experiment running with this new pain in my leg. Was it a part of training (most likely not, but I know running is not without soreness). Would it get worse? Would it be constant? Could it possibly get better as I ran? And I figured this might be a good experiment so when our athletes experience the same thing we would have first experience to know what to tell them to do. Or not to do. Or at least be able to say "I know your pain" without lying.
5. It was a pretty nice day. I know, I know, I live in Southern California, isn't it always gorgeous? Actually no. Especially in winter. No, we don't have 32 inches of snow like you guys that insist on living in the Northeast, Mid-East, Mid-West, etc etc etc have right now. But it does rain, it does get chilly, and while today was starting out sunny and warm, it was going to turn into one of those ugly days later. I am a born-an-bred northeast girl and will never get it out of my blood that when it is nice out, I have to be outside. Period.
6. I know that no matter what, I always feel better after I train. Even a bad training session seems to be better than no session at all.
7. Just log onto Daily Mile and Twitter and athlete blogs. Motivation to the umpteenth power. And I desparatley want to to be a part of it each day. Enough said.
And so with that, I ran. I would do a little self-massage of my leg every 20 minutes or so while I ran which actually seemed to help. Then about halfway through the run, I approached the Santa Monica pier, which is the finish line for the LA Marathon. To be honest, I had not really thought about the fact that this was part of my run because I often run over here. But today it sunk in. I would be finishing right here. Suddenly I heard the cheers. I saw the finish line. I listened to the music. I high-fived my friends. I smiled and laughed and cried at my accomplishment. Oh crap, I really did have a few tears in my eyes. Wow, visulization is a powerful tool. And so I add another motivation to my list...
8. The finish line. And the immense desire to cross it with a smile and a few tears of joy, not pain.
Around 2:15 into the run, I had :30 minutes left. (my runs are actually based on time, not mileage). And since almost the entire 2nd half of my run was uphill, I was tired. It was about to be the longest 30 minutes of my life. So I had to come up with another motivation. And really, it was about the simplest one of all.
9. Because I can.
This past week has been a devastating week for so many. The earthquake in Haiti. My good friend lost his wife to complications of H1N1 and pneumonia. Another friend's 21-yr old son died of unknown causes suddenly. The countless family, friends, co-workers that are battling any given number of illnesses, hardships, or troubles. And here I am, in beautiful Southern California, running on my own 2 legs, and wishing my 30 minutes was almost over. My mood didn't completely turn around thinking about that, because, let's face it, training is hard. No matter how motivated you are, there will still be training days that you can't wait to be over with. But remembering that this gift of being able to train could be taken away tomorrow helped me to keep putting one foot in front of the other and oddly, a little quicker than I just had 10 minutes earlier.
Everyone has different motivations for deciding to run a marathon, race in a triathlon, participate in a cycling event, or sign up for any type of endurance event, whether it be a 5k or ultra-marathon, a sprint or an ironman, a century ride or RAAM. They may want to:
Do something they have never done before
Lose weight
Raise money for charity
Race for a personal record
Help support a friend
Or they may just truly enjoy the sport and just can't imagine NOT doing it
My own motivation for doing the LA Marathon has evolved. Marathon was added to my "life's to do list eventually" last year because it seemed like, as a endurance athlete, something that should be on the list. I started considering LA in '10, though, because I had finally started enjoying running (see previous blog post) and well, why wait any longer to accomplish something that is on my list. This year they changed the course to a route that is actually scenic and enjoyable. I know many other people running it and even more that will come out to support me. My work schedule is light during these months compared to later in the year. No travel expenses involved. And my half-marathon time in January showed I was right on track for the training. Everything seemed to just fall into place and pointed to the infamous slogan... "Just Do It". So I committed. In my brain and in my training. But not with an actual registration. Why? I'm not sure.
Then I received an email from the Hirshberg Foundation stating that it was the last chance to sign up for their LA Marathon training program which also benefitted the Pancreatic Cancer foundation. For $100 ($25 cheaper then registration) you got training plans, information, and only had to raise a minimum of $1000. Bingo. My closest friend from my childhood, also a runner (training for her 1st marathon this year, the Pittsburgh Marathon) lost her mother a few years ago to this awful cancer that seems to have no cure. She never met her 2nd grandson and hardly new her 1st. I know that my friend misses her dearly everyday. One of my mentors and early bosses in the film industry lost his life to this cancer after a valiant battle a couple years ago. Another co-worker of mine lost his wife to it. And of course, there's Randy Pausch, Patrick Swayze, Michael Landon, Luciano Pavarotti, Gene Upshaw and thousands more. Well, I didn't have a charity event yet this year ( I try to do at least one every year) so within about 5 minutes, I was finally signed up officially. And thus, my top 10 motivations completed.
10. To raise money that will help fund research for a cure for Pancreatic Cancer
Motivations can change every year, every month, every day, even in an hour. I think its important to stop and think about our motivations every once in awhile. If for no other reason than to rejuvinate yourself and realize just how amazing you are for taking on something that not many do. Its easy to forget that when the endurance events an training become a part of our daily lifestyle.
In case you feel motivated to help me raise funds to end the devastation of Pancreatic Cancer, please click here:
*Since this post was written weeks after this particular run, I feel compelled to add a footnote that my leg is fine. The more I run, the less soreness I have, which is not necessarily typical so please do not use this post as medical advice if you have pain of any sort while running. I go to a sports masseuse and between us both, we are pretty darn sure that the soreness is my one of my outer quad muscles that is connected to scar tissue in my knee from a surgury 20 years ago, and therefore creates extra stress on that muscle. I also follow these guidelines, though, that I beleive contribute to my relativly injury free training.
-Walk 5-10 minutes before and after every run
-10 minutes of dynamic warm-ups before every run
-10-15 minutes of stretching after every run
-trigger point roller/ball therapy on my legs for about 10 minutes after almost every run
-ice baths after long runs
-protein recovery shake after runs
-weekly sports massage during the final weeks of training (only $60 plus tip! right here in LA!)
-majority of runs are on packed dirt, grass, sand or wood chips.
Nina - this is a *great* post. Revisiting our motivations every now and then probably does a lot to keep us charged up. Something *I* should definitely not foget to do everynow and then!
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