Hey Bri!
Talk about what keeps you excited to run!
Ahhh there are multiple things that keep me excited to run!
Most important of the many things is the experience. Just being out on the trails feels good. Whether it’s an easy local trail day or an epic once in a lifetime mountain day. Even the runs or races that are mainly full of suffering still feel better and leave a more permanent memory stamp, than a day spent hanging around the house. I simply love the experience of running and if I’m not loving it in the moment, after the fact, there is massive gratitude & feelings of accomplishment from surviving the suffering & embracing the suck. And even that keeps me coming back for more.
“Suffering still feel(s) better and leave(s) a more permanent memory stamp.”
A lot of what keeps me excited to train, isn’t only future races, but having the fitness to go out on the trails or into the mountains and see beautiful places. Where can my body take me in a day? There are multiple long trails that I have on my list of must do’s and I don’t have the fitness or the mileage on my body to try and do them this year, but those future objectives make it so I want to keep showing up.
Having the desire to run 100+ milers is a big part of what keeps me engaged, but that is a multi-year goal of mine that I am willing to be patient for, so that I can let my body adapt & progress up to the distance smart.
I love that running is so much about the process. Put the work in (well thought out training, not haphazard running) & you will see progress being made.
With that, the entire process of training for ultras is exciting to me. I love putting in the daily work and finding things that I can improve upon to get just a bit better. This sport is so much about discipline and hard work & I love that. Discipline even being, knowing when to take a rest day or run slower in training, not just grinding.
In the words of Bri Jaskot