How I Stay Motivated

Last Saturday I told you I was going to post about how I keep motivated. First off let me tell you, it is not easy. When I started on this journey back in October I had to make myself get up off my butt and go for my walk. Fortunately, during the month of October I was home every two or three days and it made it easy to go for my walk at home or at the park. When I wasn’t home I wanted to stay in the truck while I was getting loaded or unloaded and just sitting there and do nothing. After a few weeks it got easier to go ahead with my walk because I was feeling better. Also, my legs really hurt when I first started. I couldn’t walk a half mile without my calves burning and I wasn’t even walking very fast. Now I know that it was worth all the pain. I don’t mean to say that I don’t still feel pain because I do. It’s not really pain in the sense that it hurts but that I get tired and want to stop.

One of the things that keeps me motivated is how my body is changing. I posted a new picture on Facebook at the first of the year and a lot of my friends said that they could tell a difference in my appearance. One even said that I looked the same as I did in high school and wondered if I had a fountain of youth. I had to tell her that I didn’t. Not only have I changed in my face but when I look in the mirror from the waist up I can tell a difference then too. I’ve have taken inches off my belly and have slimmed up my arms and my legs.

Another thing is all of the runs in our general area. Some I will participate in and others I won’t but knowing that my first official run is coming up in April is enough to keep me motivated. I know that I can’t wait until the last month and start training. I have to do it now. I’m actually doing a training schedule for the Coca-Cola 10K that is going to be held in Corinth on May 7th. Right now 10K seems so far away but as I keep adding mileage on every two weeks I will get there and my endurance will be longer. I will be able to hang in there for the whole 6.2 miles. I guess I’m just throwing the 5K in there fun and to see what I have to look forward to in future events.

Reading other runner’s stories are very motivational for me too. When I see where they have come from and where they are today it make me want to do better. I want to be healthier, faster, and be able to run longer. Time and distance.

Last and certainly not least, are post on Facebook from some of my friends. When they were posting about the distance that that had run that day it made me want to get up and do it too. When Amy says she’s waiting for the start of a race, Chris post that he just completed a 5K on the treadmill, or when Koach post a running tip it motivates me. I went back and read a lot of the running tips and have applied some of them to my training because the guy knows what he’s talking about.

Thanks again for stopping and will probably see you again here in the next two or three days with my weigh in and thoughts on some of my activities.