Motivation

What Motivates you?   Simple question right....until you try to put together all the things that make you get off the couch and lace up those shoes...or sit for hours on end on a small bicycle seat...or push yourself to the point of exhaustion in a workout...or climb out of a warm bed in the middle of winter to dive into a pool and stare at a black line for an hour and half.
When I asked my soon to be 12 year old, who is turning into quite the little swimmer (12:24 in her 800m free this past weekend!) her answer was simple "I am good at it and it's a lot of fun."

Not sure I can put it much better than that...I love the training that I do and it is so fun...maybe not every workout is great, some hurt like hell...but there is a moment when it all stops being terrible/hurting, just cruising along (or counting each km as being one km closer to the end!) those are the moments that get my ass out the door even when I would rather be lazy.

I love motivating the people I coach and I try to lead by example. I love suffering through a workout with them and watching as they realize they are stronger than they think...they can push themselves farther or do something that hurts...I gain such energy from their enthusiasm and I like showing them that anything is possible as long as you work hard.  I have met some great people through training and I love having such healthy people in my life!

I am motivated by the goals that I set for myself...I have been an athlete for many years now...and I learned at a young age how to set goals (Thanks AndrewC)...I always knew why I was swimming all those endless hours in the pool, going to bed early on Friday nights, etc...and I have kept that way of thinking to this day.  I need to have a goal...I do love the everyday training and the exercise that I do, but I am not the type of person who can "just exercise"...I need to have something that keeps me pushing....In the past those goals were big ones, Ironman, Ultraman...such fun but huge goals time wise and training wise....these days I make my race goals shorter but I am able to fit in a few more each year...always something to be looking forward to doing and to challenge myself.  Many opportunities to put my training to use!

Wanting to see how good I can be....I do not compete to be better than anyone or to beat another person...I look at my goals as how hard I can make myself go.  I set my goals around my ability...push myself to try to swim, bike and run at a certain pace and if on that day I am able to do those times and that earns me a top placing in my age category, that is a bonus. I never set out to win my age category...it would be great if it happened, but ultimately that is not something I look at as being a good enough goal...You never know who else is going to be there and you can't control what they are going to do, so it really isn't something I focus on..When I am racing,  I am trying to race the clock and if I do my best that day, giving all that I have...I am happy (regardless of if my placing is 1st or 101st!)

Finally, my biggest  motivation is my training partner, SV... he is someone who inspires me, he works harder than anyone else I know, but he never takes it too seriously...he does it because he loves it...  He knows when I need to get my butt going, knows when to push me to go harder and tells me it's ok, when I need to take a day and be a lazy blob!  We suffer through some crazy workouts together...pushing as hard as I can to keep up with him on the bike...trying to get him to stay on my feet when we are swimming and running side by side through countless miles... he looks at all this crazy training stuff the same way as I do...we love to train and race hard...because it is fun and we are good at it (and it justifies having a burger and a beer!!)...he is not only my training partner, he's my best friend and being able to do something we both love with each other makes it that much more enjoyable!

So now tell me....what motivates you??