Why I really struggled with staying motivated this summer, and what you can do to prevent it!
What’s your main motivation for running? Is it the feeling you get afterwards, a sense of accomplishment? Is it a time to think through life and sort out all your problems? Or is the fact that you get to eat food afterward motivate you? 😉
There are countless reasons of why we run. But I think that when we run, it should be a time to relax and have fun. Now, I know for some of you this seems crazy ( going out and running until you feel your death near is FUN?!), but I know that there’s some of you like me out there that do it just do run. To get away. Just to breathe.
Lately, I haven’t been the runner I want to be. I’ll tell you what I mean.
In the beginning of the summer, I ended up getting sick. No, not terribly sick, but sick enough that my respiratory and immune systems were shot when it came to running. All I wanted to do was sleep. I knew partially that’s what I needed to do, but I also felt the pressure of getting some good summer mileage in for the upcoming XC season.
So I tried, really hard, to run and stay in shape. But the more I ran, the less fun it became, and the more discouraged I got. I was getting in a measly 15 miles a week compared to other’s 45-mile weeks. The more I compared, the more awful I felt. Honestly, I was not a fun person to be around!! Even as I got better, my love for running was sort of burning out. I started to run more, not because I wanted to, but because I felt like I needed to. On Wednesday, I did a track workout with my friend in the afternoon heat. The run itself wasn’t too bad, but in the exhausting heat, with every part of me feeling burnt out, I wondered why I even did this.
Why do I actually do this?
Why am I not motivated like I used to be? Do I really enjoy this anymore? Over and over this question plays in my head until I realized something.
I run, not because of times. I love my team like a second family, but that’s not the reason I run either.
I run, not because I’m addicted to running, or a feeling, but I am addicted to those runs where you have to fully depend on God to get you through it. I can’t stop running because I know that it helps my mental health, strength, and courage for what lies ahead.
Running teaches me that life is tough but you have to push through the pain. It’s taught me that God is the only one who can sustain and help me when I am at my weakest. So even though I may not be the fastest or the strongest, I will be willing to give it my all because I know that every step I take is a blessing to God and I want to give it all to him in the end.
So that’s how I plan on staying motivated in the upcoming months. Stop comparing, stop doing it just because you ‘have to’, stop making sure that you look good in front of others. Start doing what you love, and doing it for God’s glory and no one else’s. He gives us our talents, and he blesses us every day.
“Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.” James 1:17
“I keep my eyes always on the LORD. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.” Psalm 16:3
Good stuff! Keep posting!