Friday, January 8, 2010

A Sad Lack of Motivation - Winter Edition


Since returning to DC, I've been struggling to run. It's winter here! And for some reason my motivation is severely lagging. I mean, it's not like winter comes as a surprise (thank you Earth's annual rotation on its tilted axis...), and it's not as if I've never run in the cold before (I spent 4 years in Boston!).

And the ironic part is that in Boston, I was always the one on my team who insisted on running outside. Cold? Run outside. Windy? Run outside. The only thing that would force me inside was severe snowstorms, or impossibly caked ice on the sidewalks. 

So now what's the deal? It's not even below 30 degrees! But I wake up in the morning and think, Hell no I'm not going out there now!

And then I get off work - in the dark. I know that I have to run. And I know that I'm going to run. I just don't want to run. 
To deal with these doldrums, I have doubled my efforts to enlist friends to run with me. Because running alone in the cold every day is awful. But running with someone in the cold is bonding through shared adversity. 

So, as I said, I will be running this winter. Of course, I would rather be on the couch with a good book and a cup of hot coffee, but not until I run. My legs are stiff, and my toes are cold, but I will be out there, bundled up against that frosty wind. Because I love running, and nothing will stop me. Because I know that come warmer weather, I will be glad I did. 

"One morning in Boston, it was snowing so hard that I didnуt think anybody would be going training, but I went down to the track anyway. Billy Smith was there, though. He opened the door and said: "The road to Mexico is out there."
-  David Hemery, who went on to win the Gold Medal in the 400m hurdles in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics