Motivation?

”How do I get my motivation back?” is a question that I often see come up on internet running forums. Helpful runners always reply with great suggestions, such as listen to some music while you're running, find a friend to run with, set up a new goal etc. Really good tips, and they've worked for me in the past. Not so much lately.

As I wrote the other day, I've been finding it hard to enjoy running on the icy pavements, and my motivation was waned as a result. No matter what the weather, if it's cold or not, if it's grey skies or glorious sunshine. My mp3 player doesn't seem to like the low temperatures and gives up after a couple of minutes. I have goals for this season, but they are vague and at times pretty daunting, so they tend to have a counter-effect on my motivation. And my friends just can't keep up with me.

Just kidding. But how easy is it to find someone to run all my runs with? "Hey, man, can you come by and pick me up after work and then we'll run to my place? Then you can bugger off"

I was going to post a photo update on my bruised knee, because I showed it to some people at work and boy was I ever proud to show off my medal of honour. Talk about being a bad ass who not only goes out running when it's -14, not only falls down, but promptly gets up and keeps running (I didn't mention my little..ahem...tantrum incident. I hope they're not reading my blog). If it's not motivating to see yourself as superhuman, and have others admire you for your stupidity bravery, then I don't know what is. Maybe I should use the same tactics on the blog? But then I took pity on you lot. It's ghastly. The bruise has turned the lower half of my knee black. I'll wear that bruise with pride. Quietly and in the privacy of my own home.

When my work day was over, I was faced with the prospect of running home. The sun was shining but I was certain it'd be cold outside. Seeing as I'm saving my legs for Saturday's ultra, I didn't have any specific amount of kilometres I wanted to run, although I usually run 10 on my way home. So I improvised. It was much warmer than I thought, and soon enough I was prancing along, soaking up the sun, actually enjoying my run for the first time in weeks. 

How can you not want to go out running when it looks like this?

It wasn't long before I hit a particularly difficult and long stretch of ice, though. It was almost as black as my knee. I felt how I started getting irritated again, and stopped myself. I didn't have to chase the perfect 10 today, so what difference did it make if I walked the hardest parts? It's not worth it breaking a leg, just so that I can run an even number of kilometres. Get a grip, kilometre junkie.

The sea surface

When I finally got home, 8,68 km later (take that, even-number addiction!), I was rewarded with the fantastic sensation that I wanted to keep going. I wasn't tired, but I had gotten just enough sunshine and endorphins to make me wish I had stayed outside a little bit longer. So, here's my tip to all you unmotivated runners out there: force yourself to run a shorter round than planned. It'll make you long for your next session. And, if all else fails, subscribe to Trail Runner. That always does it for me.

"Is a vegetarian diet optimal for runners?" Yep! It's great for vegetarian runners.