Thursday Motivation

“You think you can win on talent alone? Gentlemen, you don’t have enough talent to win on talent alone.” — Coach Herb Brooks, Miracle

So, I have a secret for you. I know that I always talk on my blog about how much I love to run, how wonderful it is, and how I can't wait to get out and run every day. But sometimes…I get really, really tired. Sometimes….I don’t really want to do my workout.

This Thursday morning was one of those days. The alarm went off at 4:45 am. I had a group tempo run + core workout scheduled. Thursday mornings I always go to run group for this workout because I know I'll get a much better workout with the group than on my own. Crap. That means miles of legs burning and praying I can keep up with the speedy men who show up. The wheels of my (super smart and very astute brain) started working. Maybe….I can just convince myself that no one will show up at run group this morning (I mean, I know at least 3 people are on vacation), and do a shorter easier workout on my own. Then I’ll have time to go back to sleep for at least an hour!

Or! Maybe I can try to get Dan to run easy with me at lunch. And then I’ll have time to go back to sleep for 2 more hours!

And then it hit me. I didn’t really have a good reason for not wanting to do my designated workout. I actually just wanted to go back to sleep.

Sometimes, there are good reasons to miss workouts – if my body truly needs rest/recovery/easy day, that is one thing. But if I’m just being moody and tired and don’t “feel like it” — that’s not really okay with me.

While I love the sport of running and triathlon, that certainly doesn’t mean that everytime I get on my bike I love it. It doesn’t mean that every run feels great and builds my confidence. And it certainly doesn’t mean I am cannon-balling into the pool 4 times a week ready to swim.

The majority of the time, I am excited to get out there and push myself. But sometimes, I’m not. So, why do I do it on the days that I don’t love it? Why don’t I just give in to the fact that I’d rather go to Happy Hour sometimes instead of a 2.5 hour bike-to-run workout? Because, like the above quote, I understand and have accepted the fact that I am not going to achieve my goals on talent alone. In fact, if I rely on talent alone, I’m going to fail miserably this year.

I learned this about myself a long time ago. Starting around 4th grade I started playing soccer seriously. I was pretty good, too. I consistently made the travelling teams and generally was a starting player. At 12, I had reached the age where now it was time to look towards high school. High school brought soccer to a new level. High School soccer in Northern Virginia is competitive. You now had to be on top of every aspect of your game – skills, fitness, showing up to every practice mattered, etc. I desperately wanted to not just make the high school team, but I wanted to play. So, I went to every practice, worked hard, listened to what our trainer told us and then practiced on my own. I gave 100% every time, no matter what. And, in turn, I made the high school junior varsity soccer team. I started and played in every game. I moved up to Varsity as a freshman by the end of the season (not sure I made it off the bench during my freshman Varsity stint, but that's beyond the point - ha!). I may not have recognized it then, but I didn’t get that because I was the most talented. I got to that point because I was willing to work harder than the other girls on the team.

The same principal applies here. Now, I know my breaking points pretty well after competing in endurance events for the past few years. I know the difference between tired and overtrained. I know the difference between cranky and burned out. This morning I was none of those things. So, I went into autopilot and showed up to run group. Josh gave us the workout, and I started my Garmin and started running. And you know what? I worked hard, and I had a great run - one of my best tempo runs in weeks. We finished up with a kick butt core workout that I certainly wouldn't have done on my own.

Some people are just talented and will be fast. But others can be just as fast with a little bit of talent and a lot of hard work. I know which group I fall in to, and I have to admit, I wouldn’t have it any other way.