So I've never been athletic. In elementary school, I was usually the kid that was sitting out due to an injury. I didn't do sports. I did a short stint in martial arts, but nothing competitive. In med school (more like during my year off in med school), I joined Crunch gym (do they even have those anymore?) and that motivated me to work out. Once I started residency, that quickly ended. I even have a small gym in my building, but for some reason, it was just too difficult to take the elevator down to get in a work out. Plus, I liked Crunch because of the classes, and I found the treadmill quite monotonous and boring.
In residency, as I had gained a lot of weight from being immobile, I started thinking about what I could do that would be entertaining and active. I knew a lot of runners, but I knew I could never be that hardcore, cuz let's be honest, I'm a slug that is not athletic nor motivated. Two years ago, when my father-in-law was diagnosed with lung cancer, I got a spark of motivation. I signed up for the 5K Lung Run that raises money for lung cancer research, and it's kept me going since. I'm not fast, by any means, but to be able to just be present and participatory is enough to give me a little high. In addition, signing up for races forces me to train for them, which forces me to work out.
Last year, my new year's resolution was to do 3 5Ks and at least 1 10K which I was able to accomplish. This year, I started 2013 by doing the Commitment Day 5K on New year's day. It was freezing, and I hadn't been running because of the winter, but I still did it. Totally not in shape, but it was the idea of starting the year off being active that I loved. I skipped the Warm Your Heart 5K this year, because it gave me a lot of back pain last year (I think the cement floors were just too much for me). I think I had a scheduling conflict for Cupid's Chase this year too, so my second run of the year was St. Paddy's Day 8K. That one was a little awful. I wasn't well trained for it, and, just like the Commitment Day race, it snowed for a little bit of it. :p
So one of my work colleagues/friend is a major runner. He's done multiple marathons, including the Chicago Marathon twice. He invited me to train for the Chicago Marathon this year, to which I applied, uh... I don't think I can commit to that. To go from a 10K to a marathon? I don't think so. And he should know better with our work hours. As a compromise, I signed up for the Spring Half Marathon which is in May.
I signed up for active.com, and they have a training program for half marathons, but I just haven't been able to keep up with it. Half of it is my schedule, and the other half is my lack of motivation. It's awful, I know. I've been trying to be more consistent with running these last two weeks (I know, just two), and it helps that it's actually warm enough to run outside. (I'm still not a fan of the treadmill. I feel like a trapped hamster). I don't think I have enough time to train properly for the race, again, but I am going to go to it and just be present. And hopefully, at some point, I will finish the race.
How do you stay motivated?
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