Staying Motivated and Determined

Contributed By Stu Weiner

I have never been a blogger, but I took this opportunity to contribute to the Team Ordinary blog and talk about my running experiences the last few years.

The last three years of running has had its share of ups and downs. For those who follow the Ordinary Marathoner page, you have seen the myriad of races I have run and know how I have enjoyed the challenge of several distance races.

Up until 2017, I was running two marathons a year. Unfortunately, in recent years there have been some disappointments. I could not even get to the start line in marathons in the fall of 2017, 2018, and most recently, in the spring of 2019. While disappointing to have not reached my goals of completing marathons in each New England state and getting past the 10 marathon mark, I have stayed motivated and determined to keep running. I feel that runners never “waste our training” even if we can’t achieve our goals. All the miles we log, the cross training, and everything we put in is worth the effort, as it carries on to other races whether it is one week, one month or a few months away.

Injuries – They are part of the Journey

I have had minor injuries, but I have been fortunate in that I have always had a cross training routine to keep healthy and keep the injuries limited. This has helped keep me motivated and determined. My focus is to address the injuries by not pushing myself. I prefer resting and recovering, so it doesn’t prolong the injury.

My advice to experienced and inexperienced runners… IT IS NOT ALWAYS ABOUT THE RUNNING. It is important to add a variety of activities that add depth to your workout routine. Whether it is cycling at the gym or outside, weight training, core workouts, boot camps, and yes STRETCHING!!! All of this plays into our overall health and reduces the probability of injury. This is what has continued to keep me motivated and determined to keep running and setting new goals for myself.  

2020 – The proverbial Twilight Zone

One of the odd things during the pandemic (besides the world coming to a screeching halt, the unimaginable stories of people getting sick and, even worse, seeing all the people who have died) are the empty streets. There is one main street in my small town of Stoughton, MA where I have literally seen zero traffic at 6am. At times, I have been able to run in the middle of empty streets and keep socially distant.

In the time of COVID and the pandemic, what has kept me motivated and determined has not been training for a virtual marathon. Instead it is smaller virtual races that provide support to local causes. These races include our annual Falmouth Road Race, or the Heady Trotter 4-Mile Road Race normally held in Stowe, VT, or even the run recently completed for the #Irun4movement (I Run Solo 2020), and the two fall virtual half marathons I have on my calendar.

My big running accomplishment (or shall I say my “marathon”) was running the streets of my town of Stoughton MA. ALL 533 STREETS!!! These smaller goals have kept me focused on maintaining a schedule for training which has helped me stay motivated and determined to train for a 2021 marathon. It has kept my immune system strong, kept me mentally sound, and also kept me physically strong as I have managed to go back to the gym to do some weight training.

Seeing Friends (virtually or in person)

I have seen hardly any running friends the last 7 months. I ran with a small group on the 4^th of July. I try to run with one person once a week just to mix it up. Recently, I saw two friends who were running their virtual Boston Marathon and walked with a group of people helping one of our friends finish their race. It was great seeing Lorraine Fano, and Laurie Krim who I met in person for the first time on Saturday. We even got to share a socially distant beer afterwards.

However, I have really taken to running solo and have enjoyed the “me time” and not running with people (not that I am socially awkward). The “Irunsolo2020” run pretty much sums me up now, and while I probably will on occasion run with people, I am not sure it will be easy to transition back to running with groups of people on a regular basis. This includes the group runs I would do on Saturday’s with my running club.

I look forward to 2021 in that I hope to see more in-person races and see more people out running. But if I see people out running and decide not to join them, I hope they don’t take it personally. It just feels good to run solo and, more importantly, I have enjoyed not having to drive anywhere to meet people to run and not having to adjust my schedule. It has just felt great running from my house and seeing friends while I’m out running in town.