Winter Motivation

What is motivation? One simple definition that I looked up is; "Motivation is literally the desire to do things". It seems simple if you want or need to do something then as the Nike commercial says, "Just Do It"! If only it was that easy! It seems to me that motivation is hardest to find in the winter months. Whether it is cold, snow, rain, perpetual cloudiness, or in the case of "the Valley" fog, it is hard to get out the door and do something. While this is my third full winter living in the San Joaquin Valley it seems that the fog has been worse and we have seen the sun less even on days without fog. As a result my motivation has suffered.

I should have taken a picture on Christmas Day because it would be a clear example of what my motivation has been like for most of 2015. I got a new robe and as soon as I put it on I spent the rest of the day, the entire day, sitting in my robe and sweat pants and slippers watching TV and reading the new books that I received for Christmas. Now taking a day to completely "veg" out and "do nothing" isn't a bad thing as long as it only happens once in a while. Sadly it seems that is more the norm this winter.

Now I'm not saying that I sit around in my robe all day, as a matter of fact I've only worn it once or twice since that day but I do have a tough time getting started doing anything almost every day. The fact that I got sick on the 3rd of January and have been sick ever since hasn't helped.

So, how do I motivate myself to be more than a lump in a chair? The best motivation for me is to have plans. Plans to run races, plans to go places and do things, plans to take trips. Even plans or "To Do" lists. The main thing is to have something to look forward to. The most common thing for me to look forward to the past several years has been the next race on my calendar. I schedule races months in advance and it keeps me motivated to train and get things done. Unfortunately even that simple motivator was taken away so far this year. I scheduled and entered my first race for the 4th of January in Modesto. I decided to be smart for a change and not run when I was sick. Motivation took a big hit. My next race isn't scheduled until February 7th and I just got to start running again this week so my motivation has actually started getting better. Because I'm trying to stay motivated it is hard to make myself use my head and take time off from running when appropriate. I'm trying to be smarter about that and maybe trade a run for a walk so that I'm at least moving every day.

This week, while I am still struggling with motivation I made a conscientious effort to "get motivated". Monday after I ran I went for a drive with my sister to where Carley is "going to school". When my sister first asked if I wanted to go the answer was a quick, "No thanks". After I finished my run, the first since January 2nd and took a shower I felt like going. Just getting out and running helped my motivation to do more that day.

First day of school!

 On Tuesday I ran again and then drove to the San Joaquin National Wildlife Refuge, the first time that I've been there. It was a good day and I found a new place to run at least once in a while. It was not a pretty day by any means but it was definitely a pretty place and I look forward to future visits.

Then on Wednesday I decided to take the day off from running because I was tired and coughing again but I decided to make a "field trip". Nothing special just a trip top Turlock to the used book store to trade some books and then a stop at the park where I spent so much time when my Dad was living in Turlock. Like I said, nothing special but just doing something different helped getting out of the winter funk.

Yesterday I went for a six mile run, my longest so far this month and while it was slow, I felt good accomplishing something. So why all this talk about motivation? Partly just because I wanted to do a blog post for January other than the one about our trip to Muir Woods and because it was obvious that I wouldn't be writing about any races this month. I made a decision to work on improving my motivation and had my best full week of 2015. We've still got a lot of winter ahead of us so to me it is important to be aware of when my motivation is lacking and do something about it before it gets out of hand. It can happen quickly.

Here are some pictures of our Valley winter from this week.

Rough Start to 2015

It's been a rough start to the new year. On the 1st I spent a great day at Muir Woods National Monument with Stacie and her friend Casey. It was a great day and we really enjoyed hiking and then shared a meal in Mill Valley before we headed our different directions. They had come out for a friend's wedding in Napa and I was grateful that we were able to schedule some time together in such a beautiful place. On the 2nd I was tired but felt good enough to run 5 miles and then on the 3rd started feeling sick. I've been sick since.

Ironically there was a teenager coughing like he had a serious disease in the visitors center at Muir Woods and we commented on it and quickly moved away. You could hear him coughing, a barking like cough, no matter where he was. While I'm sure that I didn't catch anything from him my cough sounded exactly the same and then to make matters worse my sister Donna got sick to. It has been a tough couple of weeks.

I haven't run since the 2nd and it is the 14th today. I have tried to start walking 2-3 miles a day so I don't completely atrophy. I don't think I'll even attempt to run until next Monday, it's Wednesday now. I wound up missing my first race of the year, Andrew's Run in Modesto, a race that I won last year but I could tell this wasn't going to be a simple cold and boy was I right. My next race is currently scheduled for February 7th.

MUIR WOODS - January 1, 2015

The time spent with Stacie and exploring Muir Woods together has certainly been the highlight the year so far but I'm looking forward to the year getting better and scheduled my first trip to St.. Louis for April today.