Many times people ask how do you stay motivated to work out? I’ve found that motivation is great, however it’s discipline that will carry you through the difficult times. When I got up at 8AM on Saturday, I was everything but motivated. This was the first nice cool/dry day we’ve had in a while, and the only time my schedule would allow me to train. I forced myself to go outside and run. I took Nyah with me, she’s always on board to go for a walk. The city has a plan to improve my neighborhood, and they’ve added new parks, and a newly paved path that goes across several blocks. But, training outside is so much harder than treadmill training. I could only run about half of the intervals of Week 1 before tiring out. So, I’m still stuck on Week 1 until I can run all of the intervals.
Saturday morning, I had a hair appointment to get micro braids which can take up to 8 hours, then a family pot luck dinner since people were still in town from the funeral. My hair appointment went well, my hair is fabulous and only took 6.5 hours. “You were in and out quick” the African lady said, as I was leaving. I guess it was “quick” in comparison to the typical 8 hours.
I had a great time with the family Saturday night and went to the gym Sunday morning. I ran into my Gym Cousin, who was of course making his daily trip to stay fit. He gave me a very judging eye, when I was about to catch the elevator up.
He got on the treadmill next to me. I put one ear bud in, and left out the other so we could talk, but I could still hear Coach Carli in my other ear. It really feels like somebody else coaching me during the runs. It’s the strangest thing… To my surprise the first 3 running intervals didn’t kill me. I still didn’t finish all 8 runs, and I’m not moving on to Week 2 until I do. I could have pushed a little harder, but I didn’t. I’ll have to keep adding extra days until I catch up. The first time I trained for a 5K, I was already active, but this time, I really was sitting on the couch most nights, instead of working out. So I am truly attempting to go from the “Couch to the 5K” race in November. After a little under 2 miles, I rushed home and got dressed for church. I joined today, so I’m no longer a visitor. I’m excited and proud to be a member of Church on The Rock. The pastor started the sermon by saying “Discipline is the strength of life.” Never was that more true. Since I started training, I haven’t really felt like running. I have not yet been bitten by the “running bug” that makes me say “I love to run it feels good!” But, I was disciplined and trained on 5 different days despite my lack of motivation, pain, fear, and doubt.
I find encouragement in your struggle…when I first tried C25K in 2010, you were my trainer (your podcasts are AWESOME!). My girlfriend Karen and I were training together, and we pushed ourselves through the intervals even though we were both huffing and puffing and our legs were burning. We thought we had to keep pushing through, and at week 4 we both gave up because the intervals just got too hard.
You don’t know how much relief I feel when I read that you struggle too. That it isn’t going to be easy, it’s okay if I can’t finish an interval, it’s okay to repeat a week until I feel ready to move on.
Karen died unexpectedly last Thursday. She will never get to finish what we tried to start, and I’ve vowed to do it for her. However, I had a lot of doubt that I could do it until I read your post today. Thanks so much for sharing your struggle. It lifts up those of us who struggle too.
Jenni Mac- so sorry to hear about the loss of your friend…how sad. Keep running, you can do it for both of you..
My best friend and I just started your program this week. We are about to do our third run tonight – the first one went quite well, last night was harder and we’ll see what tonight holds. Know that there are others pushing along with you!
I feel so incredibly lucky to have found your blog yesterday, while looking for advice on starting to run. I’ve been in a bit of a plateau for almost a year now after losing 120lbs – my goal is 30 more and I know hard work and discipline are the only way to get there. I have the discipline to do strength training with very heavy weights three times a week, but lately I’ve had difficulty getting revved up for cardio, and that’s why I’m glad I found your 5k training program! I got started yesterday and I can’t wait to do the rest.
Thank you for such an amazing gift and keep going!
6.5 hours! Wow. I had a 2hr hair appointment once and found it torturous. Worth it in the end though.
I have just downloaded your podcast – thought I’d let you know I was going to join you – it’s really encouraging to find someone who has been there and done it. Looking forward to getting out and running with you.