Motivation

Motivation is an interesting topic to discuss. Honestly, as long as I'm moving and improving, it doesn't really matter to me why I choose to do it. In fact I would expect my primary motivation to change from time to time. Every thing we do, every action that we take is tied to some sort of motivation. I go to work each day because they pay me to do so. I play board games because it is fun and entertaining. I obey traffic laws because I want to stay safe and not get a ticket.

My motivation for running and training is probably not what you would expect. Most people would probably guess that I do it for the health benefit, and more specifically weight loss. However, from the start, I have always viewed weight loss as a positive byproduct of running. In fact, my primary motivator for weight loss right now is to continue to progress on my running goals. Others may say that my kids and family are probably my motivation. Although they do motivate me to keep going, I still view that as a secondary motivation. Another secondary motivation for me is to have time to myself and to decompress and reduce stress.

My primary motivation these past 2 years has been the challenge of running itself. To add to that now is the challenge of swimming and biking, and the endurance needed to do all 3. Those who know me, know that I get bored easily unless I have new and challenging things to keep me entertained. What I love about running, swimming, biking, and really any other type of exercise, is there is always room for improvement. Run/swim/bike faster, run/swim/bike farther, run/swim/bike more challenging routes. There is never a dull moment, and each training run, swim, or bike serves the purpose of getting better.

How about you? What in your life motivates you to better yourself? Feel free to share in the comments section below.