I have been preparing for 9 weeks now. And I think it's about time I talked about motivation, goals and the inner skunk. Also because I've been asked about it again and again lately.
Before my preparation, I always trained as I felt like it and as I enjoyed it. A life without training or exercise is unimaginable for me. I don't need to list here why exercise and sport are good for us and our bodies. This is demonstrated to us again and again in various ways in everyday life. But I wanted a more concrete goal. To push my body to and beyond its limits. To push myself beyond my limits. So I set my sights on the half marathon. I had a goal in mind again and could focus my training exactly on that. And that feels really good to me. And of course it's also my motivation. I don't need motivation to do sport. Fortunately, I don't have to fight with my skunk so often. It's there, but it's very quiet. Or rather, I know how to silence him. It is important to distinguish between what the skunk says and what the body says. I have already experienced my body telling me "If you don't take a break now, I'll collapse tomorrow. I promise!". The skunk says something more like "If I start running now, I might get caught in a rainstorm" or "Today I'll eat the ice cream and tomorrow I'll finally start training." But that's stupid. Why not start training straight away and eat the ice cream as a reward? Then you've put your resolution into practice and burned off the calories before you've even eaten them. By the way, Wigald Boning's tactic is to get up early and start running while the skunk is still asleep, as he describes in his book "Lauf, Wigald, lauf". (60 days Bookbeat free of charge – Commission link)
As I said before, my skunk is fortunately quiet. But he is there. And sometimes it also suppresses my motivation. A few times in the last few weeks I wanted to stop in the middle of my training. Mostly because it was too strenuous. Or, like this week, where it was so hot that I had to do almost every workout on the treadmill because the gym is air-conditioned. Then he tells me something like "You've already done more than half the intervals. That's enough, isn't it?" or "Whether it's 30 or 40 minutes in zone 2, it doesn't matter." No, it doesn't! And in order to make that clear to him, I have to remind myself of my goal. What I'm doing all this for. The thing that motivates me. And that's not the likes and messages I get (thanks for that though). It's not writing a text here every week and complaining about my suffering. It's getting my body to perform at its best. And when I show my skunk my goal, he gets quiet and lets me run the rest of the intervals.
It's different when my body tells me to stop. For example, when I can't breathe, when I'm in such extreme pain that nothing works anymore. Then that's my body. And it is not satisfied with the goal, but only with a break.
My motivation is always high at the beginning of the week. I look forward to the next training week. But I'm just as happy when it's over. And I'm also looking forward to the time after the half marathon, when I can train again just as I please. Of course I was happy about the challenge, but it also demands so much physically and mentally that it will do me good to shift down a gear again. Also to give my body a break again. And that's not what the skunk says. I sent him out for ice cream so he wouldn't bug me any more.