Marathon Motivation
We’ve established that I think a person who has been on this earth less than two decades has some wisdom and if you’re still reading this then you don’t think I’m crazy, or if you do at least you’re along for the ride to see where it may take you. Either way is fine with me.
Let’s start with a little back story. My husband and I have been married over 17 years and chose to have our daughter. We have not always had the perfect, amicable marriage, but we have chosen each other and stand by that decision every day. Our daughter has watched us argue and make up, and some days are better than others. What I’m trying to get at is that she is not from some kind of dysfunctional, abusive household where she had to grow up more quickly than her peers, giving her essentially superhuman maturity, hence my learning from her.
No, she was raised as a typical middle class kid. We made her do chores without getting an allowance but never turned away any reasonable request. She didn’t have a cell phone until she needed one because she was baby-siting and we realized most homes don’t have a landline compared to what we had growing up. She was encouraged, maybe strongly encouraged, to have good grades and that school was her full-time job. When she wanted to drive, she had to get a job to pay for her much older, used SUV we found her to drive plus put money down on it so she would feel a certain amount of responsibility. She has not been a perfect kid. She has lied, she has thrown tantrums, she has been what I think is pretty normal for her age. What is not normal about her is her drive, her motivation, and these little kernels of wisdom she throws out there not having read the plethora of self-help or self-improvement books I’ve had. I seriously think she could teach the author of Atomic Habits a few things about regular patterns and motivation, which is where I want to start at.
This kid decided she wanted to run a half-marathon. Okay, whatever, I thought. This might last for a few weeks and then she will find another goal. No, no, that was not the case. She found an online training program and followed it every single day getting up at 5:30 a.m. to complete the required mileage before she went to school and then continued it even after basketball season started. Basketball is an extremely demanding sport. All you do is run after a ball and because she’s tall she’s always in the position against the tallest, biggest players, which is not her mother’s favorite part when she is has less than 10 percent body fat and took after the lean build of her six foot, four inch father, but basketball didn’t make her lose focus on her half-marathon.
When my daughter chooses to do something, she is ALL in and I mean 110 percent times ten. This kid will chart, make lists, and do research to make sure she is doing it correctly and accurately. She had a volleyball coach notice she was dropping weight and more than likely muscle mass since she started her marathon training, most likely due to the fact that she doesn’t eat enough. So today, my daughter has designated one of her spiral notebooks as her food diary and had begun jotting down everything she had eaten that day plus how many calories it had. Seriously? I showed her an app that does the same thing but it wouldn’t work because she was under age. That seemed pretty stupid since there is nothing wrong with a young person keeping tabs on their calories and how much they should be taking in to be healthy. But seriously, her dedication to details is astounding. I simply do not think I have that kind of drive, but this girl is all that and more with just about everything. Ultimately, looking at her dedication to her goal of running a half marathon, she refused to stop. She created a schedule for herself and kept to it. How many of us can say the same thing? I know I can’t. There are many days when the idea of getting out of bed is exhausting. Why would I want to get out of a perfectly comfortable warm cocoon to put on running shoes and then go run, not just down the block and back, but miles down a road? It takes fortitude and even at her young age, she has it in spades.
Don’t give up and don’t underestimate the power of a new pair of shoes. Back story: My daughter plays basketball to stay in shape for volleyball and track. Seriously, it’s ridiculous I know. The kid plays basketball for fun. Anyway, she began making more progress with her playing versus her typical baby giraffe on meth moves she normally does, so I bought her a new pair of Nikes she picked out and guess what. The shoes made all the difference at her next game where she made a three-point shot, something she has never done plus playing a much better and more aggressive defensive game. She claims it’s the shoes. If it was then I am definitely getting the pair of boots I’ve had my eye on for a while:)
