Motivation

Running is a sport that requires a lot of motivation to succeed. You have to be motivated to train, motivated to race, motivated to eat well and get enough rest, motivated to do the drills and all the little things that make a big difference but are easy to forget about. As distance runners, it's not always easy, and often times it is guilt that gets us out the door to run on days when we really don't want to. Guilt is generally a bad thing, but in this case, it is something that we have worked for years to cultivate in ourselves. No matter how much we may want to stay on the couch, we can't shake that nagging voice in the back of our heads that makes us feel guilty about being lazy, the voice that says other people are out there running right now, and they're getting faster than you.

Lately I have been more motivated than ever to run. I've been running more than I ever have, and enjoying it more than I ever have. Training has been going great, but race times have not even come close to reflecting what I am capable of. For some reason I just can't seem to get motivated to race like I did in XC. I've sort of lost that cutthroat attitude I had. I need to get that back. I need to focus in on the race. I was talking to Jeff Marrone last night (a scholarly man) about how it's hard to have that focus and drive every weekend for the whole year. I'm trying to get that focus back.

Shamus Nally, a man that can focus!