Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

Even though last year’s race was poorly managed and treated like an afterthought to the marathon, I’m going to run in the SLC 5K this April. It took me a long time to decide to run it, so now I have less than six weeks to train for it.

This isn’t really a problem for me. I have been exercising regularly. Dance Dance Revolution and Yourself! Fitness have kept my cardio training up to running level. I just need to get back to running so I don’t surprise my muscles on the race day. Running works different muscles than either of the other exercise routines I use.

I decided to run the 5K while lying in bed last week. “I do what is required to weigh 120 pounds,” I told myself. It wasn’t getting me up. I imagined my daily reward (thirty minutes sitting on the heat vent, reading or crocheting or playing video games, whatever I want). Not even the comforting heat vent time was getting me up. “This isn’t working,” I thought to myself. “I need different motivation.”

At that moment, I decided to run the 5K. I imagined myself running the familiar pathway from Liberty Park to The Gateway shopping center. I sat up in bed and walked to the back door to let the dog out. Not even the potentially bursting bladder of my faithful dog was enough to get me up, but thinking about running that race got me up and dressed for a run within minutes.

Motivation comes from the strangest places. Oddly, this month, it came to me from deciding to run a race. I wish I could harness motivation. I wish I could bottle it and sell it. If I could, I would make a million dollars.