Hi guys, this is Gareth Rossi again with our weekly blog. This week I’m going to continue discussing my marathon training, leading up to completing the Dublin half and full marathons. Many people out there are aiming to do the same thing, including a number of Gravity members so for this week’s topic, I’m going to discuss motivation: how to keep motivated and if you lose your way how to get back on track. Additionally, I will discuss how becoming over motivated (yep this is a thing!) can have detrimental effects, such as injury and/or over training.
In recent weeks, I have been struggling with motivation, and I’m aware that this is for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I started training 6 months out the full marathon and this can be difficult to maintain. Secondly, while I have increased my long runs up to 13 miles, I have done the majority of these runs on my own, which for someone with a limited training background, these long runs aren’t exactly the most fun! Finally, a couple of things came up and I had not planned well in advance to fit training around these engagements. This week I managed to get back on track, and motivation is up again. The half marathon looming probably helped with getting this motivation back on track. Today I will be getting a tempo based run in for about 1 hour and on Saturday I plan to do my long run. Also, this week I will be signing up to run the marathon for a charity, allowing people to donate to a charity that is very close to me, Irish Society for Colitis and Crohn’s. Again, this is going to motivate me to get out and train as I won’t want to let down the people within the charity and those that have donated to the cause.
How to get out of the unmotivated rut?
Go back to the plan you had previously set, re-evaluate and set new goals. Think of the reasons you first signed up for the marathon. Sign up to a charity so you will be willing to get out and train, so you don’t let other people down. Remember, you’re not human if the thought of not going out for your run doesn’t enter your head at least once a week. Try find a running buddy, someone to meet at a designated time at least twice a week, you’ll be less likely to find an excuse to dodge that session if you’ve made plans to run with another person. If that’s not possible and you’re someone who usually run with earphones, maybe consider removing the earphones and open up to the real world around you. There’s plenty of natural music and sounds around you. We live in a world where we can be over-stimulated these days, we crave things flashing in front of our eyes or blasting in our ears constantly. We need music and get bored without it because we have been conditioned that way. Listening to the sound of your feet hitting the pavement could become a great source of strength!
Life can get in the way?
Life can get in the way, so you have to be willing to compensate. Training for a marathon can take up a lot of time, especially if you have a busy job and a family to look after. So, work around that as it’s the most important thing. Involve your family so they can help and encourage you. Then there will be a buy in from everyone and before you know it you’ll have a support system encouraging you all the way.
How to be not over motivated?
For some people this might not be an issue but for the extremists it could be! Some people over train and this can cause injuries, resulting in days, weeks or even months of missed training. You have to listen to your body and take rest at times. Rest is one of the most important components of a programme. Aiming to mix training up, try not to run more than four times a week and include at least 1 – 2 sessions a week that don’t involve running such as our small or large group training sessions at Gravity fitness would be ideal.
I hope this is of help to people…. It has helped me focus again on the end goal. Completing the Dublin marathon in a half decent time. Now I am off for a one hour tempo run.