How to Get/Stay Motivated
“Push Yourself, because no one else is going to do it for you”
When I was trying to think of what I wanted my first blog about training to be I ran into the same trap I have run into before with other blogs I tried to start. I got to a point where I wasn’t able to think of a good topic or thought, would people actually care about what I had to say? That is when the prefect first topic came to me: How do I get motivated to write this blog and stay motivated to continue writing this blog. That thought transformed into what I am going to talk about today which is how to get motivated when it comes to training, racing and more importantly how do I stay motivated.
All of this stems back in 2017. In 2017, I finished my first full Ironman in Mont Tremblant. That race ended a year long training journey which included training 20+ hours a week, missing various events and generally just being tired for over a year. It was at this point that I hit what a lot of triathletes and endurance athletes go through which is what I like to call “the wall”. What I just accomplished was the hardest thing I ever did, so needless to say I needed to take a break from being an athlete for a little while and just enjoy some downtime.
What I originally thought was going to be about 4 months of downtime from racing turned into 3 years. Here we are in 2020, I think I have raced about 3 or 4 times since 2017, and none of those races were ones where I was going to be competitive at all. I had planned on racing more in 2020 but obviously Covid hit us and most races got canceled. That brought me back to loss of motivation to train or continue to do something that I have loved for over 15 years: running. Which got me thinking, why have I lost that competitive drive and motivation to do something I have done my whole life? So I started to think what motivates me and how can I find that motivation again. More importantly, how can I keep that motivation going.
The first thing I want to mention is something that was really inspiring for me this week. If you didn’t see or hear a kid with down-syndrome, Chris Nikic, did something that no one else has ever done. He is the first athlete with down-syndrome to finish an Ironman. His story is incredible. The amount of grit that he showed with his goal and the determination he showed was incredible. His whole mission is to try to be 1% better everyday which I believe is an incredible story and motivator. You can read more about his story here.
Chris’s story really got me thinking about what my own motivation is to try to be a better athlete every day. The first thing I want to make clear is that no one can motivate you, that has to come from you and only you. The motivation needs to come from within and you need to find your inner reasons why you are training for that next race, or why you are working so hard for that next promotion, etc. There are no outside sources that can ever force you to get up and go for that morning run or stay late to get that extra project done. It all has to come from YOU!
Once you have found what drives you, then you have to find the reasons to stay motivated. There are a lot of theories out there about ways to stay motivated and on track with your goals. There is not just one way to stay motivated but here are the 3 things that I started doing over the last month to make sure I keep on track:
Accountability: The most important person to keep you accountable has to be you but that doesn’t mean you cannot get help from outside sources. It is never a bad thing to have someone to give you that extra push to help you achieve your goals. That could be your spouse, a training partner or even a coach. I am lucky that I have a combination of all three. My wife knows how lofty my goals are and she is always making sure that I have the time I need to go train. I have a few friends in the area that get together a couple times a week to train together. For me, training with someone helps me stay accountable because I know they are counting on me to show up. I have a great coach, Margaret from Mountain Endurance Coaching. The reason I have a coach is to have someone outside my circle who is there to help keep me on track and hold me accountable. Similar to training partners, by having a coach, for me I know they are expecting great things from me as well, so I don’t want to let them down, so it holds me accountable to get things done.
Prioritization: The second major thing to focus on is prioritization. This is one of the biggest things that I have noticed that has helped me stay on track. We all have busy lives, so the best thing you can do is prioritize your day, week, month, year etc. The easiest thing for me is to use a calendar and write down everything I need to get done that week. After that, I look at where there could be some overlaps and adjust my week as needed. I always do this the Sunday before the upcoming week. This helps to make sure that I don’t have any stressors during the week because I have figured out all the things that could come up (that I can control). If you need help with prioritization there are a lot of great articles out there to help you but the method I use is the ABC method. I rank all of the things that I need to get done with A being the most important and C being things that I don’t need to get done right away. With having a 6 month old son it is very important I make sure that everything I do is prioritized because the time I have with my family is the most important part of my day and I need to ensure that is my #1 priority.
“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do” ~John Wooden- This is the one that I am still trying to master and figure out how to let things go. I am the person who sits in guilt if I miss one run even if is an easy 2 mile recovery run. This is detrimental to your personal health if you let anytime you miss a run affect you. Things are going to come up causing you to have to miss a run here or there. I am here to let you know that is okay and that missing a few activities is not going to make or break your training or that race. Focus on the things that you can control and enjoy and live in the moment and don’t worry about things that are outside of your control.
The one thing I hope you get out of this blog is to know that only you have the ability to control if you want to get motivated and stay motivated. There are things that are out there that can help give you some outside motivation but at the end of the day it starts and ends with you. So go out there, find your goal, find your why, and start the process. Initially it will be hard but as you get on a roll with your plan it will become second nature.
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