Motivate Me Monday: Your Body, Your Faith, Yourself

I'm borrowing Running To Be Skinny's "Motivate Me Monday" title because well, it just sounds cooler than "Motivational Mondays."  Not only does it sound better, but because my readers (that's you! :) ) motivate me just as much as the photos, quotes, and links that I post here every Monday.  So motivate me, please!  Please share what motivates you.  I really appreciate all your comments, tips, advice, stories, and encouragement you give me daily.  Thank you!

I found these post-it notes (see below) on Things We Forget.  A post by Another Mother Runner led me to these post-it notes of encouragement, inspiration, and motivation.  They are such a great way to start off a new week!  If you're not following them already, you must!

I picked these post-its after my very lousy 7-Miler yesterday.  I was stepping down to 7 from doing 10 last weekend, so I was looking forward to a good "shorter" run.  Well, I guess you never know how your run is going to be until, well, at the end!  I went slower in the beginning (Mile 1 - 11:58; Mile 2 - 11:15; Mile 3 - 10:46), after so many reminders from runner friends & training plans, that long runs are suppose to be slow.  Like 1  to 2 minutes slower than your race pace (depending on your source).  Seasoned runners can go 30 seconds slower than race pace.  My long run race pace is 10:30 min./mile, so technically, I'm suppose to do my long runs somewhere between 11:00 - 12:30 min./mile.

My big rookie mistake this year is doing most of my long runs at race pace.  Really, Marie?  Really stupid, huh?  So bad.  So if you've been running for just a year, like me, or just starting, make a note of this and don't do what I just did:  Do not do your long runs at race pace.  Long runs are suppose to be slower than race pace.

Clearly, I should have been doing this too: 


Listen to my body.

Souce

Yes, my body is obviously smarter than me.  It's been telling me to slow down weeks ago after PF showed up right before my Virginia Is For Lovers 14K (race recap coming soon! I promise!).

So during my 7-Miler yesterday, PF was trying to poke its ugly head through my foot again with an ache at Mile 5, enough of an ache that it slowed me to a walk.  Then my SI Joint on my right started to ache!  I ran the rest of my run MUCH slower just to finish, and I iced and massaged the crap out of my foot and calf.  Again.  So more resting is in store for me this week!  The only saving grace from that run was running with my friend, F.  It was our first run together and if it wasn't for her, I probably would have just quit at Mile 5.

Best advice I've received was just that - listen to your body - even from those little aches and pains,  before they magnify to an injury that could side-line you for months.


Have faith.

Source

Aches, pains, soreness, and injuries can really discourage me to the point where I start to doubt whether I have the body to train for my first full marathon in October.  I really like this post-it above:  "Let Faith Be Bigger Than Your Fear."  I have to remind myself that I had the courage to sign up for my first full marathon because I know that I CAN finish that distance as long as I follow a training plan and be smart about training along the way.  I know that if I let that fear of getting injured get in the way, I will never get to that finish line.


Run my own race.

Souce

I think I'm insecure about my running pace when I run with friends.  I'm slower, and I find myself apologizing for slowing my friends down.  I need to get over that and realize that if my friends wanted to go faster, they wouldn't invite me.  Right?  It's so easy to be swept away by faster friends, and I find myself trying to keep up.  Last time I did that, I got PF.  So now, I'm trying to stay true to myself and my friends.  I'm much more relaxed on my runs as a result because I am running my own race.


Ben Comen, Runner.
Finally, how can you not be inspired by this kid?  Meet Ben Comen.  He was a high school kid when this video was recorded.  He was in his school's cross country team.  He has cerebral palsy, but watch him run a 5K.  I just LOVE how passionate he is about running and his strong determination to finish even after falling down so many times.




UPDATE on my aches and pains:   PF is gone as of this morning, knock on wood.  Enough for my workout today.  I've been self-correcting my SI Joint, something I learned from Physical Therapy, so this morning is good so far!  Crossing fingers!

Thanks so much again to those who gave me tips on running my first full marathon!  Reading your blogs motivate me everyday.



What's your week's motivation?  What motivates you to keep running?