Motivation
Motivation comes in many forms. Apparently, lack of it is very apparent.
I missed my Monday run because of Lag B'Omer (a very stupid holiday on which we light bonfires and then run after our kids to make sure they stay away from them). There was way too much smoke in the air to be able to run outside and I didn't manage to get to the gym on time. So I decided that I'd do my Monday run on Friday, my rest day.
Friday is a long way away from Monday, of course.
By Wednesday, my birthday, I had a cold. I was still thinking about Friday. Maybe I'd skip the run. I'd still have a cold on Friday.
On Thursday, teammate, neighbor and very very good friend, Gil, returned from a business trip abroad. He'd missed Monday's run, too, but unlike me, he's a really good runner. When I told him that I was planning to run on Friday morning, he said, "Oh, then we'll do it together." Uh, yeah, right, Gil. My all-out pace is his warm up pace. How on earth were we supposed to do it together? Nothing bothers Gil, though. He said we'd run the same 1.5 km loop so we'd be in pretty much the same place at the same time. Uh... ok...
But then he said he wanted to run early. I had to take my son to school and couldn't run before 8. He said that was late, but then he said, "Well, maybe not. We'll see... Call me when you're ready." I was still trying to figure out why on earth I had to do this run with Gil when I wouldn't even see him while I was running. I said we'd just meet there. Maybe.
Friday morning. The cold was really bad. My nose had run all night. I actually put on my running clothes -- I don't know why. Maybe it was because I thought maybe I'd see Gil and I'd barely seen him all week. Or maybe it was just because I'd already declared that I was doing this run and I'd have a hard time making up a good excuse for not doing it (of course, there was that stuffy nose...).
8:05. My cell phone rings. It's Gil. "I'm leaving for my run now. Are you coming?" I told him I'd be ready in five minutes and five minutes later, he was in front of my house. We ran down to the starting point together (Gil, very pleased with himself that he could run at my pace and me panting). We did the run separately -- three 1.5 km loops, each one with some kind of speed work.
Actually, that's not accurate. He did the three loops. He finished his third before I'd started mine, so he did the last one with me. "You see? I'm good at running slowly" (this was supposed to be my slow section and my heart rate was up to 165!). Then he started race
walking (did I mention that he used to be the Israeli race walking champion before he switched to triathlon?). At moderate pace. This quickly put him way in front of me, so he waited. LOL. And then we finished and walked home together (no more race walking!).
No, Gil, you're not really good at running slowly, but you sure know how to keep me motivated. How is it that you knew that I wasn't very motivated? Must be another one of those things that's written all over my face.
I missed my Monday run because of Lag B'Omer (a very stupid holiday on which we light bonfires and then run after our kids to make sure they stay away from them). There was way too much smoke in the air to be able to run outside and I didn't manage to get to the gym on time. So I decided that I'd do my Monday run on Friday, my rest day.
Friday is a long way away from Monday, of course.
By Wednesday, my birthday, I had a cold. I was still thinking about Friday. Maybe I'd skip the run. I'd still have a cold on Friday.
On Thursday, teammate, neighbor and very very good friend, Gil, returned from a business trip abroad. He'd missed Monday's run, too, but unlike me, he's a really good runner. When I told him that I was planning to run on Friday morning, he said, "Oh, then we'll do it together." Uh, yeah, right, Gil. My all-out pace is his warm up pace. How on earth were we supposed to do it together? Nothing bothers Gil, though. He said we'd run the same 1.5 km loop so we'd be in pretty much the same place at the same time. Uh... ok...
But then he said he wanted to run early. I had to take my son to school and couldn't run before 8. He said that was late, but then he said, "Well, maybe not. We'll see... Call me when you're ready." I was still trying to figure out why on earth I had to do this run with Gil when I wouldn't even see him while I was running. I said we'd just meet there. Maybe.
Friday morning. The cold was really bad. My nose had run all night. I actually put on my running clothes -- I don't know why. Maybe it was because I thought maybe I'd see Gil and I'd barely seen him all week. Or maybe it was just because I'd already declared that I was doing this run and I'd have a hard time making up a good excuse for not doing it (of course, there was that stuffy nose...).
8:05. My cell phone rings. It's Gil. "I'm leaving for my run now. Are you coming?" I told him I'd be ready in five minutes and five minutes later, he was in front of my house. We ran down to the starting point together (Gil, very pleased with himself that he could run at my pace and me panting). We did the run separately -- three 1.5 km loops, each one with some kind of speed work.
Actually, that's not accurate. He did the three loops. He finished his third before I'd started mine, so he did the last one with me. "You see? I'm good at running slowly" (this was supposed to be my slow section and my heart rate was up to 165!). Then he started race
walking (did I mention that he used to be the Israeli race walking champion before he switched to triathlon?). At moderate pace. This quickly put him way in front of me, so he waited. LOL. And then we finished and walked home together (no more race walking!).No, Gil, you're not really good at running slowly, but you sure know how to keep me motivated. How is it that you knew that I wasn't very motivated? Must be another one of those things that's written all over my face.
posted by bari | 12:22
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