Motivation! (02/27/10)

A friend of mine posted on Facebook today that she was having trouble staying motivated to keep going on a new walking regimen that she's started. I sort of tongue in cheek mentioned that I find it hard to stay motivated to do exercise normally, but that ever since I signed up for the 3-day walk, I've been hyper-motivated to get my walking and cross-training in. I feel badly on days when I don't get around to doing it if it's not my regularly scheduled "off" day. I suggested to her that she join me and sign up for the 3-day and she would find incredible motivation to keep going. I didn't expect her to say what she did in her reply. She said that she has actually been thinking about it. She may see if her sister wants to join us too. I of course mentioned to her that from now until March 9 there is a $25 discount on the registration fee for the walk. This is the third person I've got thinking about joining me. I love that this is infectious! I'd love to be able to take my friends on this journey with me, but whether they join me or not, they are thinking about it. If not this year, then perhaps next year.

There is something about this event that really is so incredibly motivating. I'm motivated to raise the funds. I'm motivated to keep walking. I'm motivated to talk to people about breast cancer and keep this cause out in the open. Somehow it's the bigness of the event. It's the feeling like you're making more than a little difference. It's not wanting to let your supporters down. It's realizing that walking 60-miles in three days is nothing compared to what those who face breast cancer and their families go through. The motivation is incredible. The feeling of accomplishment you get with each mile logged (and clearly I'm one of these people who tracks every mile) is amazing.

I walked in pouring rain again today. It was literally raining so hard for one five minute stretch at the beginning of my walk that it felt like tiny rocks were falling on my head. The parts of me not covered by my rain poncho (legs and feet) were soaked through in seconds. It was cold. It was startling how quickly it came on and I briefly thought about turning around, heading home, and waiting for it to pass. Then that motivation kicked in. It changes your mindset. Two month ago, if someone had told me I'd be happily walking in pouring rain while my feet got soaked, I'd have looked at them like they were nuts. When you view it as a challenge to rise above, rather than an uncomfortable annoyance, it becomes easy to keep going. A few minutes after it started pouring, my cell phone started ringing. I stopped walking and answered. It was my loving husband checking on me to see if I wanted him to come pick me up. Luckily, by then, that motivation was there and I happily thanked him for his offer and told him as I was already as wet as I was going to get, that I would keep going. I quite enjoyed my walk this morning.

Thank you for this motivation, 3-day!

Fundraising: Total: $2,440.00
Training: 4.5 miles in 1 hour 40 min
Total miles to date: 95.7