Monday Morning Reflection – Inspiration vs. Motivation

This time of year many people go about setting New Year’s Resolutions, things like quitting smoking, lose weight and start exercising only to be forgotten once the calendar turns over to February. Why is that? Why are people who are so inspired to change something about their lives so easily dissuaded? The issue I see is the battle of Inspiration vs. Motivation. Let’s take a look at the definition of both words:

in·spi·ra·tion  /
noun
1. an inspiring or animating action or influence: I cannot write poetry without inspiration.
2. something inspired, as an idea.
3. a result of inspired activity.
4. a thing or person that inspires.
5. Theology .
a. a divine influence directly and immediately exerted upon the mind or soul.
b. the divine quality of the writings or words of a person so influenced.
6. the act of inspiring; quality or state of being inspired.

mo·ti·va·tion
noun
1. the act or an instance of motivating, or providing with a reason to act in a certain way: I don't understand what her motivation was for quitting her job. Synonyms: motive, inspiration, inducement, cause, impetus.
2. the state or condition of being motivated: We know that these students have strong motivation to learn.
3. something that motivates; inducement; incentive: Clearly, the company's long-term motivation is profit.

Looking at the definitions of the 2 words what stands out to me is that inspiration comes from an outside source and motivation is something more internal. Also inspiration seems to be driven by “What” you want to accomplish and motivation is driven by “Why” you want to accomplish them. So if you are inspired to lose weight after a holiday season of gluttony and excess but not motivated to actually join a gym and start working out, you are doomed to failure.

I can speak from personal experience on this, I knew I was gaining weight over the years, I wasn’t blind or stupid. Every time bought new pants and I had to go up a size, or what once was a drawer full of large and XL t-shirts became 2XL and 3XL and those larges became old rags I knew I needed to get back on the right track. I would come across a late night infomercial for P90X or some other home gym workout program and I would get inspired to join the gym again and start working out. But sure enough by the next morning, or a few days later it would be forgotten or as in some cases I would join the gym, go for a couple days or weeks, but soon grow frustrated with either my lack of progress or just the simple fact that I could not do the things I once could so easily. One of the most vivid memories I have of a failed attempt to get back into exercise was a time I was at the gym doing bench presses and struggling with 135 lbs, meanwhile the 40-50+ year old guys were not too far away banging out sets at 225-250 lbs with ease. This was incredibly demoralizing, especially since once upon a time I could bench press over 500 lbs, I used to warm up with what those guys were lifting and 135 lbs wasn’t even something I messed with. Inspiration faded quickly and the gym got a year’s worth of membership dues for about a week’s worth of exercise.

So inspiration failed once I was faced with adversity and struggled with my own expectations of success, what than motivated me to start my journey? Well if you have read my blog for any time you know that one of the biggest motivators is my sons, especially setting the example of a healthy lifestyle for them. But that wasn’t what got me started in the first place; it is what keeps me going now. What motivated me in the beginning was something so simple, I was embarrassed. Not for myself, well I was but having dealt with weight issues (or the perception of my weight) all my life it wasn’t anything new. What was the real kick in the teeth was I was embarrassed for my kids, and my wife, that they had me as a father and a husband, and it really hit home when we were on vacation in Florida the first time. I was that guy at the pool and the beach, the one who didn’t want to take off his shirt and when I did you knew why. I always hid my weight well with a shirt on, broad shoulders and a barrel chest helped out and I still had some muscle from years of lifting weights for sports, but when stripped of my only defense and cover against the truth of my weight I was exposed for what I truly was…obese. And I was embarrassed that my family had to be seen with me. That vacation was when I made the decision to change my life. Not when the doctor told me 6 months earlier that I had high blood pressure, borderline diabetic, off the chart cholesterol and was killing myself slowly. No that was only inspiration because I still didn’t care, in fact I almost even bragged about my condition to people when explaining it. It hadn’t settled in yet that I might not live to see my kids graduate high school or college or get married I was still living in denial. But on that vacation I was really faced with what my life had become, and I realized what I was going to miss out if I didn’t do something to change for them, not for me but for the people who counted on me. My family became my motivation, and being there for them for the long haul and not being an embarrassment to them, well not for my weight at least ;-)

At the end of this week I will set out my 2012 Goals, I don’t do resolutions anymore I set goals. A resolution seems like something I “need” to change, and if that’s the case I’m not waiting till the New Year for that. Besides goals are something to strive for, a benchmark of success, a challenge to conquer, and as an athlete that is much more motivating to me, I like challenges.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday season...Until next time...do today what others won't, so tomorrow you can do what others can't.

Thursday morning blah's

Could not get up this morning, snoozed through my alarm by an hour and half, then I just couldn't convince myself to run outside even though it wasn't that bad out this morning. I couldn't sleep last night finally fell asleep sometime after 1am. Going to be a long day, lots of coffee in my future as I zig zag my way back across Iowa. Today's workout was pretty much garbage so it is going under the category of "workouts I did when I didn't want to workout", and hopefully the pay off is more mental than physical. I'm blaming my rest day, yes I took a scheduled rest yesterday which was nice, all I did was a light weight workout yesterday morning for about 30-45 min but it wasn't enough to physically exhaust me so when I did lay down last night I still had that antsy, nervous energy running through my body which has become a staple lately.

On the upside I did get to visit an old friend and her family last night, it was great to see them again, they were my second family in high school and I haven't seen them in 12+ years, which is really horrible since I've been traveling to the town they live in for over a year now and this is the first time I've made the effort to visit. Not sure why it took me so long, but I'm glad I finally did it was good to catch up and see them again and I look forward to getting together with them again soon.

Until next time...Do today what others won't, so tomorrow you can do what others can't.

Tuesday morning ride with Mickey Mouse

Got up early to do my bike ride the plan was for 10 min w/u, 8 x 4/2 intervals (4 min hard/2 min easy), 10 min c/d, increasing 1 minute per hard interval from last week.

Legs were still a little sore from the weekend but felt pretty good after the warm up, after my first interval my oldest son came walking downstairs, he's an early riser like his dad. I got him set up with a pop tart and he sat downstairs and watched ESPN with me. After a few minutes I could tell he was getting bored with football analysis so I asked him if he wanted me to find a cartoon for him and he smiled and said yes please, and luckily Mickey Mouse Clubhouse was on. Honestly I could have cared less what I was watching, it was the fact that we were spending time together, even if it was watching cartoons while I rode my bike trainer.

I've spent considerable time over the last few days hashing out training details and a race schedule for the upcoming year, I have some friends that are succeeding in talking me into doing a half Ironman potentially this next fall. This will require a considerable amount of training and my biggest concern is that it doesn't take away from time with the family so days like this morning will really make this process a lot easier, being able to work in family time with training will be the best of both worlds. Both boys lately have been non stop about wanting to run a marathon (marathon = race in their mind) and we were able to get in a couple runs this weekend together. For me they were a nice active recovery from the earlier running/biking that morning and for them they got to train with Dad which really makes me feel special.

This next year is going to be amazing and hopefully I do it right and it strengthens my family and the bond between me and my boys. Until next time...

Do today what others won't, so tomorrow you can do what others can't.

Tempo turned rest turned fun run

Today's run 4.3 miles 35:27

Did not want to do this workout today, I woke after hitting the snooze button a couple times and decided I was going to take a rest day. After sleeping in for another hour I figured I needed to at least take the dog for a walk, after getting dressed to take him for a walk I figured I'm going to go for a 30 min walk I might as well run. I'm glad I did! I had a 6-8 mile tempo run scheduled today but once I headed out the door I decided to just run, run hard, run by feel and ultimately not care about what "type" of workout I was doing. I realized when I woke up I didn't want to skip out on my run want I really wanted to do was skip out on "training" for today. It really felt good to just walk out the door and go with nothing but running on my mind, no pace to concern about, no distance to achieve, the only thing I was even remotely concerned about was being done around 30 mins. I am glad that I had this day, reminded me why I fell in love with running in the first place, and reminded be that I don't necessarily need a day off, but maybe just a day off from training and just do what feels good for that day, that is how I used to approach running when I first started and at times I miss that.

Until next time...Do today what others won't, so tomorrow you can do what others can't.

I need a plan

I've come to the realization that for my triathlon training I am going to need a plan, so far I have been doing run and bike workouts, I'll start swimming in January, and that is working so far. I know I'm going to need some assistance with swim workouts, I have no clue what to do in that department, running I feel pretty confident I know what I'm doing at this point and cycling I could use some direction as well.

I work best when I have a plan in place, when I know exactly what exercise I'm supposed to perform and how I'm supposed to do it. When left to my own decisions its too easy for me to cut a workout short or out entirely, if its on paper then its what I have to do I can usually convince myself to finish it up.

Next couple weeks are going to be spent getting a plan in place so I can execute come the first of the year. If anyone has any suggestions please feel free to pass them along.

Until next time...Do today what others won't, so tomorrow you can do what others can't.

Tuesday morning ride...

Watched the Ford Ironman World Championships while riding the trainer this morning, WOW talk about motivation and inspiration to push through a workout, kinda hard to give up after an hour on my bike while watching a double amputee, a cancer survivor and multiple 60+, 70+ and 80+ year old age groupers complete an Ironman. I'm not ashamed to admit that I shed a tear or two while watching and listening to some of these peoples stories. I can relate to some of the struggles that these back of the packers go through on a daily basis and can only imagine what others have to deal with (see double amputee or cancer survivor). I respect the skill and talent that the pro's have to do what they do, but the rest, the "average Joe's" the ones with day jobs, kids, and no corporate sponsors those are the people I respect and admire most. Then there are those that deal with all the daily hardships that we all go through but do it while also fighting cancer, or while missing a limb, these are the truly remarkable and the truly uncommon, these are the modern day superhero's.

Until next time...Do today what others won't, so tomorrow you can do what others can't.

Saturday Morning Brick Workout

So normally I would head out to run some trails on a Saturday morning, this time of year though that requires waiting for the sun to come up (lazy, good for nothing sun), and seeing as how we have Casey's secret Santa fund raiser at school this morning I had to get my workout in before then. Plus we are headed out of town to visit my relatives so my normal Sunday morning ride is on the shelf as well. What a perfect scenario for a brick workout!

Brick w/o part 1 - Run - 5.94 mi - 56:49
It was cold this morning, 8 degrees according to the weather app on my phone, time to break out the winter running gear. I already had my heavy duty pullover and warm up pants, but after letting Lucky out for his morning business I realized I was also going to need my face mask. I got myself all bundled up and head out the door, although it was cold it wasn't terrible since there was little to no wind. I learned last year that winter running can be very enjoyable if you have the proper gear. The worst scenario for running in the cold is starting out slightly cool and never getting warmed up.

As far as the run went nothing terribly special, just a nice 6 mile loop around the neighborhood, Lucky joined me and he seemed to be holding his own, in fact he seemed like he was pushing the pace a little bit. I get concerned in this kind of weather about keeping him out very long but usually at or around 10 degrees he's ok any colder or if there is a strong wind it's probably not safe for him (or me for that matter) to be out that long.

I finished up the run came inside stripped out of my layers and grabbed a drink and an energy gel and headed downstairs to jump on the bike trainer.

Brick w/o part 2 - Bike - 13.5mi - 45:00
Like all my trainer rides I'm merely guessing at the mileage based on sporadic cadence counts, perceived effort and the gears used. I started out pretty slow, legs definitely felt heavy after the run but once I got loosened up a bit I got into a rhythm. The best part about riding my trainer is being able to watch TV while I ride, it keeps my mind occupied while plugging away at the miles and lets me catch up on some of my favorite TV programs.

I had planned on doing an hour on the bike, but 30 mins into it I realized I was not going to have enough in the tank to get me through. Legs felt tired, which is understandable I've had a pretty hard week of training without a rest day since the previous Monday so I was on my 12th consecutive day of training, plus I added leg lifts to my routine this week. Tomorrow will be an easy day, maybe run for 30 mins on the hotel treadmill, or just take a much needed day off.

For the week I've totaled out at 4 runs for 20 miles, 3 bike rides for 56 miles and I lifted weights 4 times (2x upper body and 2x legs) for a grand total of 8 hours and 15 minutes. Ideally I would like to be around 10-12 hours for a week and peak at 15 hours once I start incorporating swim workouts in January. Getting all that into my schedule will take effort and some sacrifices like going to bed earlier and getting up early but that is half the fun and challenge. Living a sedentary life style is easy and frankly boring, being active and training is not only a physical challenge but a mental one as well, one thing I have learned is that to be physically strong you have to be mentally up for the challenge as well. Until next time...Do today what others won't, so tomorrow you can do what others can't.

Monday morning run

Today's workout Easy Run/Weight lift - 4.12 miles in 35:43 @ 8:40 pace.

Today was supposed to be an easy run for 3-4 miles and then 30 minutes of circuit training afterwards. Now an easy run for me is usually in the 9:45-10:00 min/mi range, obviously I didn't adhere to that this morning. I started out at what I felt was a comfortable pace, but I felt like I was flying when I looked at my watch after the first mile it read 9:06, which is an incredibly fast first mile for me, even during a tempo workout. I didn't feel like I was pushing the pace so I didn't try and reign it any, I just went with it. It was a very cool morning, 29 with a 10 mph wind out of the north making the wind chill around 20 degrees, and I tend to run faster in chilly temperatures, that is when I do make it outside.

I knocked out my second, third and fourth miles in 8:38, 8:31 and 8:25 and was very pleased when I stopped my watch at 35:43. I love running fast (well fast for me) and when it also feels easy its far more enjoyable. I often wonder what it feels like to be an elite runner and easily knock out miles at 5-6 min/miles, to experience that kind of raw speed and power must be incredible. I wonder if they even truly can enjoy it, or the way someone who's never been fast would. Reminds me of a t-shirt I saw once while running the Bix 7 the back read "In my dreams I'm Kenyan". Yeah, I'd have to agree, in my dreams I'm Kenyan too (or any elite runner for that matter) and I can run like a gazelle, miles upon miles, for hours at a time...then I wake up and I knock out an easy run in 9:06, 8:38, 8:31, 8:25...


Until next time...Do today what others won't, so tomorrow you can do what others can't.

Oh crap I think it just happened

I'm not sure but I think I might have just gotten sick. It's actually pretty amazing that it hasn't happened sooner...I mean after all I do live with 2 little germ factories a.k.a. my kids. I cut my bike ride on the trainer short this afternoon because I felt weak and light headed and I thought it was due to not eating lunch beforehand, but sitting here watching football after I'd eaten I'm starting to get the chills and a headache to go along. I will say I'm usually very fortunate, I may only get really sick once a year other than the common cold. Hopefully, if I am getting sick, this will be it for the season and I can get it out of the way before I dive headlong into triathlon training starting in January.

Post Edit: Well my rush diagnosis may have proven to be incorrect, thankfully. We had an early dinner due to Casey's Christmas play at church, Deanna made taco's (a family favorite). I ate ravenously, 4 large tacos and I polished those off with a couple of chocolate chip cookies we made yesterday. By the time we got to the church I felt 110% better and enjoyed an amazing performance by all the kids, mine especially. So I learned a lesson today, working out in the morning on an empty stomach = ok, working out in the afternoon on an empty stomach = disaster.

Until next time...Do today what others won't, so tomorrow you can do what others can't.

Love my dog!

If a picture speaks a thousand words than let me have 2000 please...

This is what my wife had to deal with last night while I am out of town for work, God bless her she has to deal with this garbage, pun intended. It seems like something like this happens every time I go out of town...which is almost every week.

Lucky is a rescue dog and had been passed around to a number of homes before finally settling in with us. He suffers from separation anxiety which is understandable considering his background. He normally is a pretty good dog, but like me he just seems to annoy my wife a lot. He's also really good with the kids and very protective of them, when I wrestle with the boys, he gets defensive of them and even tries to break it up. Not to mention he can be awfully cute at times...



Lucky has been a member of our family for nearly 2 years now, he has become my most reliable running partner, he can knock out upwards of 12 miles at a time, if the weather isn't bad, and still want more later in the day. I feel bad since I know some of his behavior issues stem from his attachment to me and when I'm gone is the only time he seems to act up. We have discussed possibly finding him a new home for him, but that would be like putting one of my kids up for adoption, I just couldn't do it. Like any family member, you love them always, but at times they can frustrate you, disappoint you and sometimes make you down right angry.

Until next time...do today what others won't, so tomorrow you can do what others can't.