Thursday, November 3, 2011

I WANT TO, BUT...

This morning I ran into a friend as I was dropping off my girls at school.  She asked me if I was about to go running and told me how envious she was of me that I could muster up the energy to get out there.  I asked her what she meant.  She said, "I want to go running.  I tell myself all the time that I'm going to make it happen.  I buy the shorts and the shoes and I get it in my head that I'm ready.  But, then, I don't do it.  I just can't seem to get over the hump."  Admittedly, I'm not an expert on motivation and there are always days when I can barely get out there myself, but what I did tell her is that "the hump" doesn't have to be so big.  Why not make it a bit smaller and easier to get over?  Eliminate the "but" and just say "i want to".  Then make the goal something that is attainable.  3 miles instead of 5.  1 mile instead of 3.  A long walk instead of nothing.  And then try it again. And keep trying until you do it.  And, when you're ready, raise the hump.  "Ok", she said.  "No more 'buts'".  And then we high-fived.

Listen to this:
Maps - The Yeah Yeah Yeahs  Maps - Fever to Tell

3 comments:

  1. Dear Running with Music:

    Whats the deal with this new, new old way to run.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/06/magazine/running-christopher-mcdougall.html?src=me&ref=general

    Thoughts on this?

    And are you still allowed to listen to music when running, if you are wearing those bootie sock shoes. Doesn't seem fair to the music. Maybe they can listen to some language tape, like German for Dummies, or something related to the periodic table.

    Thanks,

    Movin and Groovin

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  2. So, I've not yet bought into this movement, but I get it. I strike the ground with my heal along with 90% of all runners. Supposedly, this is much harder on my body than striking straight on, which is what the barefoot runners tend to do. But I still love my very expensive Sauconys and feel naked when I don't run with the orthotics in them. So, to each his own. In terms of music, to me the bottom line is, everyone has the right to rock out.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ok. Thank you. I tried this running style yesterday and it was impossible.

    ReplyDelete