Hello runner friends!
Welcome back to the Bass Pro Fitness Series
MIDWEEK M😊TIVATI😊N blog!
Now let's get started by talking about how determining your ‘why’ can be the very thing that keeps you motivated to complete your longest training run this Saturday (if you're following the OMRR Bass Pro Fitness Series Training) before tapering down—and the very thing that then keeps you motivated on race day to make it to the finish line. So how exactly will having a ‘why’ inspire you to press on you might ask, especially when things get hard? Well, consider this... if a ‘why’ can be defined as the cause, reason, or purpose for which someone does something, it only makes sense that the more worthwhile and rewarding the cause, reason, or purpose is, the greater the motivation will be to see that thing come to pass. Right?
That was certainly the case at last weekend’s Frog Hill Half Marathon that I had the blessing of directing, that inspired the topic for this week, and that many Bass Pro runners used as a training run. From left to right pictured above you'll see Laura Murrieta, Gretchen Barnes, Amber Ferrell, and Jackie Morrison. All of the girls besides Laura were running their first half marathon and this is what they had to say when I asked them about their “why?”
"I was injured all summer and these ladies never gave up on me. I even managed a 10 minute PR,” Laura Murrieta said. "I've never done one before. I came to support my friends." said Amber Ferrell as she smiled, realizing that all the hard training had paid off. Overcome with emotion, Jackie was unable to answer so Laura explained, "We ran in honor of her mom who passed away at the end of August so....." "It's for my Momma," Jackie said afterwards with tears streaming down her face. And last but not least, Gretchen said, "It was my first half. I ran the 10k last year. I knew I could do more. And when you have a husband who walks a 5k in prosthetics (something he did the previous year and the night before), what excuse do you have?" Indeed! What excuse do you have for not finishing a race right?
So if you're feeling unmotivated today, perhaps it's simply time for you to challenge yourself? Perhaps it's time to ask yourself, "What's my why?" Well only you can answer that but I will share with you three of my top ‘why's’ that keep me motivated to press on each day, and especially on race day. First, I run to glorify the One who made me and gifted me to complete distances that others can only dream of doing. Second, I run because I can, because I know there will come a day when I will no longer have the strength or the ability to run. And since today is not that day, I will choose to lace up. And lastly, I do it because it simply feels good. Movement is medicine for the mind, body, and soul. I don't run because I have to, I run because I get to.
So if you're looking for your own ‘why’ today, why not start by adopting my number two reason as your own by making your ‘why’ simply because you can?
And if you're still saying, "Melissa, I'm not feeling any of that," consider this post and video that the Bass Pro Fitness Series shared last week on Feel Good Friday to be your ‘why’, "Rest assured that when you run with us, your dollars are going to a cause bigger than you! All of our profits that the Fitness Series makes from our events goes directly to one of our sponsored charities! Those charities include Girls on the Run of Southwest Missouri, Champion Athletes of the Ozarks, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ozarks, Ozark Greenways, Inc., and Isabel's House! Stay Tuned for next week as we highlight the important work that each of our sponsored charities does leading up to Marathon Weekend!" This can be your "why!" Think of all the children and families that will be blessed because you chose to run one of the Bass Pro events! Which means you have to choose to finish the training. I don't know about you, but I think each one of those charities is a great "why" to lace up.
So there you have it friends. Having a reason "why" is a great motivator for completing that 13.1 or 26.2 mile race coming up in a few weeks. So determine what yours is and allow it to drive you to the finish line... because that's where the food is!
Happy Running!
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