4:30am Run - Motivation

Sometimes you have a run that you’re just proud of.  Sometimes that’s because you hit some milestone, exceeded some goal, or you proved something to yourself.  I was pretty happy with my Wednesday run this week.  I set off with a goal of 10 miles, 7:20 pace, and negative splits.  I met all of them running the 10 at 7:08 pace with a 2 min negative split and never felt like I was straining, all while practicing drinking and fueling (something I never do.)

This morning I was happy with my run for a completely different reason.  The run was not long (only 4.5 miles) and it certainly was not fast (8:20 pace).  Instead I was happy because I actually RAN.  I’m traveling on business and in an area where running just isn’t easy (a small mining camp in Colombia.)  Even a month or 2 ago that would have been reason enough for me to blow off running for a week and a half – not even bring my gear, but today I woke up at 4:30 (I’m not a 4:30am person) to get a few miles in before I met my hosts at 6 for what will be a 15 hour day by the time we’re done.  It may not seem like much, but if I can put in 25-30 miles during this trip it’s that much more than I would have had before, and that much less conditioning I’ll lose while I’m down here – and for me something that makes me proud and motivates me to run this week.

Finding those little things to be proud of can help you keep running, and keeps the running interesting.  It doesn’t always have to be a PR, or a great run – it can be finding a new route, seeing a great sunrise, or even just getting out.