Encouragement Methods

[Meg McKilty]

I thought of something else important that I think of whenever I am struggling to make it through the workout: hot movie people.

I think of Blue Crush and Kate Bosworth's body.
I think of Charlie's Angels and how Drew Barrymore and I have curves alike.

[eclectic]

whenever I am sucking air going up a hill and my legs feel ready to give out I just tell myself - "you are not in abject, crushing pain in the throes of death, all you are really feeling is a little discomfort - in the entire scope of your life this is only a measley 5 minutes (10, 20, 1/2 hour - whatever) Suck it up and get tough.

Once I put my discomfort into perspective it lessens considerably. (and then I say "why the H$!! do I do this

[VeloVT]

hmmm... running & biking are totally different in this respect for me. Biking, I just go into a kind of zen flow where I focus on pushing my cadence and keeping my breathing deep but under control, and upshifting as soon as I can. No room for commentary. Running (which is actually easier/more natural for me & I started doing first), paradoxically, I have all sorts of tricks for. Going up a really steep hill (8+% grade), I'll tell myself, "think how hard this would be if you were on a bike -- think how hard you would be breathing/how your quads would burn" because actually those really steep climbs ARE tougher on a bike. On more moderate hills, (ok I'm about to embarrass myself) sometimes I think the lyrics to, well, I'm not sure if this is one song or two songs actually, (Frank Sinatra lyrics, "let's take it nice and easy" and "all the way", and I imagine that crooning voice) cause my problem running is more that I lack the discipline to hold back than it is that I have trouble motivating myself. I also establish benchmarks -- "once I get to x landmark, I'll only have 2.5 miles left -- that's almost home" or "ok, now LESS than 2 miles to go" -- this is very effective for me. I use it to cheerlead my bf (who runs only for practical reasons, not because he likes it) when we run together and it seems to help him too. I also sometimes focus on trying to pick up my turnover rate (basically, cadence for running), this keeps me going too... Sometimes on long, cold, early morning runs (marathon training in the winter), I think about the delicious cup of strong, hot, sweet imported British tea with milk and sweetener I'm going to have when I get back ... Sometimes when I'm easing back into running after a layoff, or upping my mileage significantly, times when runs can be more tiring, I'll tell myself, especially in the first few miles, "this isn't about speed, it's about endurance, it doesn't matter how fast you go, just that you put the miles in" and in those cases, sometimes I"ll just leave the watch at home, since I know it will create pressure when the most important thing is just to put one foot in front of the other.

The watch can be a big motivator too, though...