BY After Maintaining Fitness During This Strange Time, Charting Your Training and Tracking Progress & Injury Prevention, we have finished the last session of Inside the DM Talk, Getting Motivated. During our session, David and Melvin shared their personal stories and recounted their marathon experiences, as well as how they got motivated for it. Participants also shared their motivations to run as well as how they are progressing in their running journey.
Here are some key pointers to getting motivated:
Set a goal to motivate yourself
David shared about setting reachable goals as well as challenging ones to push himself as a runner. During his recounts, he talked about how he managed to decrease this timing and one thing that keeps him running is that he is able to clock the same timings as he did 10 years ago. For David, it was the Boston Marathon. Unfortunately, covid-19 happened before he could proceed with that goal of his.
Set up a running club/group and organize a predetermined distance virtual race among friends
Many runners feel dispirited during this time where they are not able to meet up physically with their running buddies. David proposed setting up one virtually and you can even consider setting a specific time aside to run together. We currently live in a digital age where technology has advanced such that it’s easier than ever to keep in touch. Maybe you could even do a zoom call together with your running buddies while running.
View videos of past races or get inspired by those who are faster than you
For those who are looking to race or reach faster timings, you can get inspired by watching videos or those faster than you. One of our participants shared his experience of training with Soh Rui Yong and how during some pace training, the marathoner could easily hold a conversation while the rest were struggling. Another participation said when running, his goal is the person in front of him and when he overtakes that person, he sets his eyes on the next person in front of him.
Read reviews of new gears and consider buying something new to spice up your runs
David mentioned getting new shoes or earphones that would make you want to test them out. While the motivation from getting new gear can be short-lived, it could be just what you need to kick start running during this period.
Melvin shared his experience of running the 5,000m and 10,000m events during the SEA Games 2015. It was a heartfelt retelling with him recounting details of not being expected to be picked for the SEA Games, not having the race background many runners had and details like how other runners pumped themselves up before the race.
There were two highlights of Melvin’s story. One was about how he failed at the 5000m event and had to go through disappointment and feeling lousy while still having the 10,000m event the next day. Just before he did the 10,000m event, his coach told him that how he performed at this event would be the “True reflection of yourself”. The second highlight was how Melvin talked about how the support from his family, friends and colleagues in the stand really pushed him while running and how powerful it was.
The reason why you run may not be the reason why someone else runs. During this period with no actual races, you can consider signing up for a virtual race to keep the momentum going. By committing to an event, you can get yourself motivated that way as well.
We hope you have gained insights from this series and David and Melvin’s sharing. Thank you for your support and participation thus far. Look forward to more content from RUN Singapore.
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