Motivating During Crisis
In 2017 I ran my first half-marathon. At that time, I did not consider myself to be a “runner.”
In 2018 I ran my first marathon and still did not take myself seriously as a “runner”.
I continued to run races and improve my pace, and eventually, I started to change my perception of my commitment to running.
The mindset shift happened after I “placed” for the first time in a race.
I was in Nashville, TN, with my younger son for spring break. I “Googled” “races to run in Nashville on April 8th”, and found a local 10K which, without any additional thought, I signed up to run.
To my surprise, I came in second place in my age group.
As I celebrated in my accomplishment, I began to reflect on the way I approached this race. Halfway through the race, mile 3ish, I started to notice other runners slowing down their pace and even walking, so I decided to speed up and pass, which made me start to think more competitively. I would think to myself, if I could pass one person, who else can I pass? Could I win?
When I decided to slow my pace to rest, runners would catch up, which made me even more competitive.
This routine continued up to the last kilometer of the race when I decided to keep running.
I finished 6 seconds before the third-place runner. It was such an incredible feeling and quite the endorphin high.
I have completed many races since my Nashville podium, and soon after, I began to compete in triathlons, further fulfilling my competitive drive.
Fast forward to today during the time of COVID19, I am trying to stay active and competitive, but I cannot help but feel at times a sense of hopelessness and a lack of motivation.
How can I motivate to “pass the slow runners” and push myself to advance my speed and distance when there is no race to run and no runners to pass?
As we navigate this new normal, we must seek to conceive new ways to motivate and outperform normal pace and effort.
To foster our competitive nature, we must:
- Create purpose and value in what we do
- Identify the core components of our own personal motivation
- Challenge the norm, push beyond what is expected
- Develop new goals and evolve them over time
- Document success metrics, share successes
- Be outcome-driven
To achieve the “podium” during this time push through, be uncomfortable, be spontaneous, welcome the unexpected, and pass to acheive even the smallest of wins.
Just keep running.
