MOTIVATION

All In! by Nick Symmonds

"I believe that to be really successful at anything in life requires this level of focus and determination." Nick Symmonds, Olympic 800m Runner.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Value of Sports - What we strive to teach.

Be careful when running on the road.

To Thrive, Many Young Female Athletes Need A Lot More Food

How much should runners eat?

"While there are broad individual variations, most nutrition experts put teenagers' basic needs at around 2,200 calories a day for girls and 2,800 for boys. A vigorous activity like distance running increases those totals by about 10 calories per minute of exercise.

"A boy may start out needing 2,800 calories," estimates Craig Hunt, a Spokane nutrition expert who frequently counsels teenage runners, "and if he puts in a 60-minute run, he would likely need to add another 600 calories, for a total of 3,400."

Hunt encourages athletes in training to eat three meals and three snacks a day, including one snack before bed, to replenish, rebuild, and keep the metabolism humming. In the example above, that might mean three meals of about 800-900 calories each, and three snacks of 200-300 calories."

Free Coaching Advice

Running/science journalist Alex Hutchinson has written his last Sweat Science column for Runner’s World. His final column was a great overview of how simple the key tenets of distance training really are. In the column, which was more than 2,500 words long, he listed his seven pillars of distance training. Those seven pillars, which can be described in about 100 words, are fantastic.

1. Running is good for you “in moderation,” which is defined as “a lot more than you’re doing.”

2. If it comes in a bottle, it’s probably not going to make you faster or healthier.

3. The best technology for tracking and guiding your runs is the device between your ears.

4. You probably got injured from doing too much, too soon.

5. The magic workout, shoe, or superfood is whichever one you’ve been ignoring lately or have never tried.

6. You can probably run better; start by running more.

7. You’re capable of more than you think, but it will take time to get there.

Read the whole column here — The Seven Pillars of Running Wisdom — and be on the lookout for Hutchinson’s new book in February which you can pre-order now. Those seven tenets remind us of one of the very first articles we ever published on LetsRun.com: Four Principles To Correct Training For Elites and The Four Principles Translated For the Masses.

Enjoy The Moment

“I had the greatest roommates, beautiful weather and I clicked with my teammates very quickly. I learned how to focus on the positives and the things I could control, which helped me grow as an athlete and person. This lesson is something I carry to my training and personal life to this day. You don’t realize you are in the ‘good old times’ until it passes. So enjoy each moment. Enjoy the heartbreak and the victories. These moments will be ones you carry with you for the rest of your lives.”

– Two-time Olympic triple jump champion Christian Taylor reflecting on his college days at the University of Florida.

Never, Ever Give Up....also push yourself to your limits!

Click Here for an Amazing Finish at the Colorado State CC Champs

Why do you keep running?

“I continue because I really love running. I’m good at it! And it’s my job! One reason I love it is because of the regular challenge to my character and motivation by pushing me outside my comfort zone. As long as I continue in the sport, there is constant uncertainty and there is always potential for public disappointment or failure. I literally lay it all on the line when I race, where at minimum the results are posted for anyone to see, and at the extreme my race is broadcast live around the world.”

-Canadian Olympic 1500 runner Nicole Sifuentes writing about why she’s going to continue to run even though she’s been saying for years she’d retire after 2012.

You are never down and out!!

Click here

You are never out of it....watch this video!

Why a TEAM is so important, even in an 'individual' sport - click here

Training Advice from Jordan Hasay - click here

Focus on the journey, not the outcome (the day-to-day goals) as it will make it much more enjoyable.

Steve Prefontaine Short Bio from ESPN - click here

“I think the point of life is just trying to improve,” Eaton (World Decathlon Record Holder) said. "Do something. Get inspired to do something and then try to do better."

- click here for full article

Running "Without Limits"

Click here for video on YouTube

"When your mind is fighting your body and telling you to give up you have to be positive and say ‘I am going to do it’."

-2012 Olympic 800m silver medallist Nijel Amos Click here to read the full article

“Why am I afraid?” he asks, rhetorically. “If I’m afraid, how can I win? If I lose, well, it’s a challenge. You can lose. Sports, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I don’t care what people think, anything can happen. I just have to be ready and keep training.... I have confidence that I can do this [set the marathon world record]. If I work hard, if I train hard, nothing is impossible."

-5,000, and 10,000m World Record Holder Kenenisa Bekele

Click here to read the full article at Running Times.

Hard Road v Easy Street

Easy Street: When the Coach says the session is over I stop.

Hard Road: At the end of the session I do extras.

Click here for full article.

Make Time to Run!

Make Running a Priority

Keep Running Gear Near

Be Crunch Time Ready

Avoid Time Vampires

Click here for full article.

Set your goals high! - “I don’t really have any goals right now for track. I’m sure my goal will be to go for a win at NCAAs. It sounds crazy but that has been my goal for a while now. Last year I got 8th in the 3k at NCAAs but I still wanted to go for the win. I’ve ‘failed’ with so many goals that I’m not afraid to set them high now. You can never win and really break through if you don’t have it in your mind. If I’m competitive in every race then all of my other goals will happen by themselves.”

- NAU senior Brian Shrader, talking about his goals for the upcoming track season after his recent breakthrough race, winning the US 12K Championships.

Click here to read the article on LetsRun.com

Train Hard and Often! - "We start training in June," [University of Colorado Blake] Theroux said [after winning the NCAA Cross Country Team National Championships]. "We train harder than anyone in this country. We're up in the Rocky Mountains, zero degrees, (running) 18 miles and we say, 'Screw this, we're going to go out there and win in Terre Haute.' That's just what it's all about."

Click here the article in the Denver Post

Put in the time and put in the work! - “I didn’t want to be just another kid who goes through college and really doesn’t do anything. But leaving my mark doesn’t mean I have to be an All-American. It could be being part of a Mountain West cross country championship or maybe doing something at the NCAA Championships.”

“I’ve worked for it,” he said. “It’s not like there was a glass slipper that I slipped on. I had to put in the time and put in the work. I’ve always been the type of athlete who, if someone tells me how to reach a goal, I’ll go out and do it.”

UNM Lobo runner Graham Thomas -

click here to read the article

It is up to you! - “The true vision of a champion is someone bent over, drenched in sweat, at the point of exhaustion, when no one else is watching.” - Anson Dorrance is the women’s soccer coach of the twenty-two time National Champion University of North Carolina

Read the Article - "More Important that Talent!"

Believe in yourself! - “10 years ago today, I ran my 4th marathon at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. Going into the race, I had the 39th fastest marathon personal best in the field of 101 of the top marathoners in the world. On paper, I had no shot at medaling …”

“… The beauty of racing is that once the gun goes off, everyone is for him or herself. The medals and awards are not handed based on the personal bests before the race, they are earned based on performances in that particular moment. I have always believed that preparation is the key to success.”

- Meb Keflezighi writing a Facebook post on the 10th year anniversary (August 29th) of his 2004 Olympic marathon silver medal.

Click Here for the Post

The Miracle Mile! - The race isn't over until you are across the finish line.

An American Hero - “On August 7 (the day before the suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan), I got up in the morning, I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth and said, ‘You know what? I’m going to skip my run today.’ That was one of my biggest regrets because that could have been my last run. It’s the one love you have and you pass on it and when it’s taken away from you, it makes you realize that you can’t take things for granted.” - Captain Flo Groberg, a former University of Maryland XC and track runner, talking about the one regret he has from two years ago when he put his life on the line for his country.

Report abuse