Mileage (May 31 - June 6) & Motivation

I found this article and to any of you feeling like your motivation has reached a new low in regards to the Summer Distance Challenge, give it a read and hopefully it will help you to get out there and run harder this week!

"Actions Dictate Emotions" by Neil Anderson

"I get this question a lot…“Neil, how can I make myself workout when I don’t feel like exercising?”
My answer to this isn't popular. In fact, my clients hate it. But it is spot-on accurate and it absolutely works. Here it is:If you want to feel more like exercising…simply go exercise. By the time you get 10 min. into your workout you’ll feel more like finishing the workout than quitting. Poof! Dilemma solved.
Yeah, don’t think I haven’t had a few eyeballs rolled at me after giving this little piece of advice. But trust me, I don’t tell clients this to simply be obnoxious. There is science behind this answer. Let me explain.
Years ago, I read a very famous study on treating clinical depression in people. This university study was trying to determine ways of treating clinical depression other than the standard drug treatment therapies which are currently being prescribed by doctors and therapists. It was also trying to answer several pointed questions about human behavior. One of which was: “Can a person’s actions dictate their emotions?”
To answer these questions, the study had participants stand in front of a mirror for 20 minutes per day and simply…grin at themselves. Imagine that! Having clinically depressed patients stand in front of a mirror and, whether they felt like it or not, they had to grin at themselves for 20 min. Guess what they found? It turns out that those who participated in this study and simply grinned at themselves for 20 min. per day reported feeling better at the end of the 20 min. In fact, many of the participants had a very hard time at the end of 20 min. remembering what they were upset about and felt better for an extended period of time.
Now some of the participants would only feel better for a short while then go back to being depressed. However, those who stuck with it and kept doing the “grin therapy” reported that the more often they did the therapy, the longer the good effects lasted. In fact, some participants even came completely out of their depression over time.
What did this teach us and what has it got to do with exercise? Well, it taught us a couple of things. One thing that it taught us is that our actions can affect our emotions. Not feeling particularly happy? …do happy things (smile, laugh, play)…feel happier. Not feeling confident? …act confident (stand straighter, look people in the eye)…be more confident.
Here is another thing we learned from the study: It turns out that some people who are clinically depressed (a very serious condition) can improve this condition over time with consistent, daily practice.
See, people who are depressed do not become that way overnight. They have to work at it. Over time, with enough reinforcement, the bouts of depression last longer and longer. Pretty soon, the person is spending more time being depressed every day than happy. Over time, it becomes easier for that person to be depressed than it is for them to be happy and in some cases it becomes impossible for the person to ever be happy at all.
This is the same process with weight gain and poor health. In order to fix this problem, permanently, it will take an equal and opposite amount of time and effort.
So, when I tell people that working out will cure the exercise doldrums, I am not trying to be obnoxious, forceful or funny. I am simply describing the process it takes to undo what has taken time and effort to be done in the first place. It’s science."

By running/walking only 2 miles a day for 6 days a week, you could potentially get 12 miles a week. The idea is to be consistent. Try doing some type of physical activity everyday and your body will thank you in the long run, no pun intended:)