Winter Motivation

Ok...so I took most of the month of December off...I didnt plan on it, I had an incredible Marathon, followed by a satisfying 5K...then Thanksgiving dinner and pumpkin pie...it was nice to relax...too nice...The next thing I knew I had put on 10 lbs and was feeling kind of sluggish...sure, I did some maintnence runs, lifted once or twice, but I had lost the edge...I didnt "have it"...and all of a sudden it had been almost a month...  

Then, on December 21st, I finally turned the corner...WHY?  because the days started getting longer!  I know its a little mental, but that was all I needed...Motivation comes in many forms, and once it hits you have to grab on and hold tight with both hands...

So what was the next step??? 

I started writing things down...Everything - Races I might like to do, goals for those races, mile splits for those races...but that wasnt enough...so I started creating Challenge workouts...a Sprint Triathlon indoors at the Y...a two hour trainer ride...an unsupported half marathon...Zipper hill repeats on the biggest hill I could find...The list went on...

The next step was to break down the preparation for those workouts...and still pull together a Marathon plan...I started thinking about what kind of distances I was going to have to put in, the intervals, even the gear I was going to need...

The next thing I knew I had mapped out the next 20 weeks...Starting January 1.  Its going to be a good year!

EVERY athlete I know has battled motivation...but today we have tools at our disposal instantly...Friends are always on Facebook...recently I discovered an entire community of runners and athletes on Twitter...and then there is Itunes...do a search for Running and you get dozens of podcasts done by people of all levels...Runners qualifying for Boston, Runners that call themselves Gomers, and even runners from the middle of the pack. (let me know if you want a complete list of what I listen to...)

what I am trying to say is that motivation is out there...and if you cant find it...just ask me...