Motivation

After a little talk about excuses on Wednesday, I thought it might be appropriate to talk about the other side of things…motivation.

I’m a pretty dedicated exerciser. I get in 6 days a week and have for the past several years. So what motivates me to get out there and sweat on a regular basis? Because it isn’t always easy. Here are some of the things that motivate me to get ‘er done.

1. positive thinking: I am a firm believer in self-efficacy and the self-fulfilling prophecy. If you start a workout thinking it won’t be a good one, or that you’re going to run slow or you’re going to be too sore to do much, then 90% of the time you will fulfill that. So instead, I decide beforehand just how great my workout will be. It gets me excited to workout and results in a overall better workout session.

2. gear: It is true. If I didn’t have good running gear, I would be far less likely to get out there and run and push myself. Thanks to my good running shoes, vibrams, and cold-climate running gear (like my Lucy leggings! which I love), I am prepared for a good workout.

3. Accountability: It really did help me to work harder when I logged my mileage in hoping to get 1,000 miles last year. So this year I track miles and weights I use on my own so I can see progress and try to beat myself.

4. Talking Watch: Okay, this sounds weird. But it is true. Since I got the new Nike+ SportWatch GPS, I have had more motivation to get outside and run. Not only because I love running with it and uploading my stats on the computer…but also because it ASKS me to run with it. So maybe you don’t have a talking watch, but you could get a friend to ask you to run with them!

5. Endorphins: I think it is safe to say once I start a workout, I never regret it. The starting is often the hard part. When that is the case, I imagine myself at the end and the good feeling I get that I accomplished something, I worked hard, and my health is better for it. That makes it alllll worth it.

Here are a few other motivation tips from the greatist.com:

• have a mantra (like the little engine that could!)
• visualize
• train with a personal trainer (eh?)
• break down your workout (tell yourself to run for 10 minutes, then another 10, then just 5 more, etc.)
• find a workout friend
• download some new workout tunes
• count out loud when performing reps
• get in the zone

~What motivates you to work hard?

How To: Lacing Your Shoes

How you lace your running and exercise shoes, although it may not seems so, is quite important. While working out, especially while running, your feet swell. It is a natural thing that comes from putting extra pressure and force over a prolonged period of time on your feet. Your feet are strong enough to take that force IF they have room to swell and move. That is why one important part of buying shoes for running/working out is to buy a 1/2 –1 size larger than normal, depending on the shoe brand.

When lacing these shoes of yours, there is a special technique that I learned when I got my first fitted pair. (Which I definitely recommend going to a store where they can watch you run when you buy your first pair.)

The key is to leave the toe box (widest part of your shoe) able to expand with your foot. Thread laces through the first set of eyelets and then straight up each side without criss-crossing at all. Continue this way for two or three holes. Once you've passed the forefoot, begin criss-crossing and finish lacing as normal.See how the laces don’t cross til the middle of the shoe?

Then at the end, make a loop with the lace and pull through to tighten. You can do sort of a shimmy with the laces to tighten before tying. This prevents too tight of tying.

I attempted to make a video out of this…but lets just say the pictures worked out better.

By the way…there is also a correct and incorrect way to TIE your shoe. Who knew? Not me, until I saw this video on RunnersWorld.com the other day.