Life Past 30

When I began training for the Marine Corps Marathon, race day seemed so far away that I had to reach within myself to regain the motivation and drive that propelled me through Marine Corps bootcamp 14 years ago.  Finding that motivation is not as easy task when one is juggling parenthood, a full-time job, bills, and life’s little surprises.  I did it.  Once you capture the motivation, you must keep it and that is where many people falter.  To remain motivated, you have to know why you’re working toward your goal and keep that in mind on the days when you feel overwhelmed and fatigued.

Trust me, I felt tired quite a few times during my training, but pushed myself anyway because my ultimate goal is, and always has been, to complete the marathon.  In doing this, I have found the main difference between completing bootcamp at Parris Island and training for a marathon is self-motivation.  In bootcamp, you have drill instructors telling you when to run and how long to run.  When training for a marathon, there is no one there to push you, so you must do all the pushing on your own.  Getting out of bed at 4:45AM just to run a few miles before going to work is lot different than waking up at the same time to the sound of a drill instructor beating the inside of an empty garbage can with a two by four.  I feel that self-motivation is the strongest level of drive because you pull yourself out of your normal routine to work toward your goal and if you fail, you only have yourself to blame.

My motivation level remains high, even with the marathon a little over a week away, but I truly commend David Goggins for his stellar achievements.  His story motivated me even more!  If you don’t know who David is, take a look at the video below.  This guy is a great inspiration and proves you can do anything you want as long as you keep your goals in mind and do what must be done to achieve them. 

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