Motivation for that Long Distance Run

“Do a little more each day than you think you possibly can.” ~ Lowell Thomas

A friend recently inquired about the mental aspects of running a long distance race. She had no idea I write a blog about just such things. Neat how people with common interests come together like that. So I am dedicating this blog to her. She knows who she is. =)

Some things I’ve picked up along the way regarding long distance running…

1. You can go further than you think you can. Yes, you can. Yeah. You can. When I was training for a half marathon, the last mile or two of those long runs would have me believing that it would take every single ounce of energy I had left to reach my target distance. However, I would always run 10 steps past the finish line just to prove to myself that I had more in me than I thought I had. Training is not only to build you up physically but to also build you up psychologically. Every run that you complete builds your confidence. It will help you shift your focus away from your perceived limitations and toward your ambitions.
2. It will get easier. When you first started running, one mile was difficult. After you adjusted to one mile, you added another mile to your work out. By the time you had built up to four miles, one mile didn’t seem so difficult. Your idea of what is difficult will adjust as your body and mind adapt to the new challenges. It is all in perspective. If you want to train for a long distance race, remember that you eat an elephant one bite at a time. Don’t think about all of the workouts you have left between today’s workout and your goal distance. That is overwhelming. Just focus on today’s workout. One day at a time.
3. Set challenging but realistic goals. Don’t set a goal so far above your capability that you will dread the run. It is not good for your body or for your confidence. Goals should respect that your body and mind need time to adjust to the new demands. Even if you white knuckle it through to complete your ruthless goal, it may be so difficult that you have a hard time being motivated to go on your next run. You are more likely to burnout if your workouts are intimidating. Set yourself up for success. Choose a goal that challenges you but that you know you can complete.
4. If you have an ambitious goal that is outside of your current capability, don’t give up on it. Break it down into smaller, more manageable goals to accomplish over time. If you are running 3 miles per day and you want to run a marathon, you can do it! A good starting place is to choose a training program that gradually increases your mileage over time. There are a ton of free training programs available on the internet for various race distances. My personal favorite and the one I am training with currently is found at this website. (This is a schedule II chart but a schedule I chart is available if you are starting out running at or less than 20 miles per week). I like this training program because it fits realistically into the time that I can allocate for running and because it provides adequate time to recover between runs. I also like that it trains up to 23 miles. Many marathon training programs only train up to 20 miles with the belief that adrenaline alone will carry you through those last 6.2 miles on race day. Personally, I want to be better mentally and physically prepared for that full 26.2.
5. Be consistent. It is tempting to skip a run here and there. We’re only cheating ourselves. On race day we will feel so much more confident if we know that we’ve completed our training and we have no doubts that we are prepared for the race.
6. Log your workouts. If you are the kind of person that gets all excited about checking something off of a list then you thrive on achievement. Use that to your advantage. I log my workouts on mapmyrun.com. You can log your miles and it will automatically calculate how many calories you’ve burned and your pace as well as lots of other cool stats for you graph lovers. I love the feature that allows me to upload information from my Garmin watch and then provides a visual of my route, my pace, splits, and even elevation changes. You can also track the mileage you’ve put on your running gear so that you know when it is time to buy a new pair of running shoes. If you like to obsess over your run for a few minutes after it is finished, this is a great way to do it. =) This is also a great way to track improvements over time and set objective goals.

I really like the information found in this article on how to stay motivated on your long run. I use a lot of the same techniques mentioned in this article to stay motivated but since the article mentions it I will avoid redundancy. I encourage you to read it. I especially like Tips 2 and 3.