October 18, 2008

Short Term Motivation

In the beginning, the ideals of your long term goals are what motivate a person to start the process of working out. But, there comes a point when those long term goals begin to fade and become more boring to envision. For instance, the whole idea of losing weight doesn't seem to feel quite worth the effort and time anymore, becoming tone and fit doesn't seem to be worth all the time you spend in your stinky workout clothes. But, the Doctor aspect of me knows how important it is to my health more than anything else. Unfortunately, having an improvement in your health isn't always visible so, I've decided that in order for me to achieve my goals, I need to search for more short term motivation while I'm working out. Here is a list of short term motivation that I find when I'm running.

1. I look at the people driving past me in their cars and imagine that their thoughts are cheering me on. Occasionally I'll get a honk, that's always flattering.

2. I run through the forest on purpose because I'm afraid and fear is a good motivator to keep going.

3. When I see fellow runners outside, I ALWAYS say hello to them because it reminds me that I'm not the only one struggling to finish my work out. If they say something back that means we've made a connection.

4. I set visible goals for myself using land marks along the side of the road such as a tree or lamp post or stop sign and challenge myself to go 1/2 a block further.

5. I make up rules for myself, such as, if there's a car in my vicinity's, I HAVE to be running because I don't want the people in the car to think I've only been walking.

If you have other motivators, let me know, I am always looking for things to keep me going and keep me motivated to run.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EDUCATION:

Last time I ran, I rolled my ankle so here's some tips on what to do if you have a minor injury.

RICE: Rest, Ice, Compression Elevation. This rule should be used for injuries within the first 72 hours of when it first occurred. DO NOT use heat right after an initial injury occurs. Heat increases swelling in the area which will make the injury worse. Although the heat feels good, do not use heat it usually causes more harm than good.

FAVORITE SONG OF THE RUN: "Let it Out" by Starrfadu
part of the lyrics, "do you want to lay your head on my shoulders ... I don't mind if you cry."

2 comments:

  1. My short term goal is to run at least 30 seconds to 1 minute longer than I did last time. That way I at the very least know I am making progress even it is very small. I also do the car thing which isn't much of a motivator in Altus at 8pm since no one is on the road, but when there is darn it I go faster!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. OK to put it out there when I started running about three weeks ago I could only run 7 minutes continuously. The other day I did 30!! I know not much, but if I put it out in public it motivates me to elevate that number so it isnt' so embarassing!!

    ReplyDelete