Rough 3 Years - Read if you struggle staying motivated

Like many of you and even in previous posts, my running experience has been a roller coaster affair.

I am proud to say that I have been on the good side of that roller coaster ride now for more than 2 years.  In this post I want to help explain how I was able to finally turn the corner on my running lifestyle.

I started and stopped running more times than I even care to share.

If you are like me, this is a really frustrating cycle of events that occurred in my life.  It was an up and down emotional time for me and running just never was the priority it should have been.  Oddly, my wife was really into running and competed in races and did her thing and I was no where to be found.  I was on the couch.

I believe there are 3 things YOU can to do avoid my back and forth running experience.

1. Join a running club - here is my local club but if you aren't from where I am from you will have to search out your own.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Kankakeeriverrunningclub

http://www.kankakeeriverrunningclub.com

This group of running enthusiasts does such a wonderful job making people feel welcome.  There are some really smart people and experts in the field of running and biking.

All levels of runners are welcome to participate and network

Couch-to-5K to ultramarathon abilities are represented.  This club, and many like it I am sure, will get you hooked up with the right people and will help you find motivation.  This leads me to my next helpful suggestion.

2. Find a Buddy!

I am lucky, my wife and I have very similar speeds and goals in mind for our weekly exercise so I have gotten a built in buddy for much of my running experience.

Encouraging your spouse/sig other is a great way to communicate and have a common bond.

Here is an interesting link about couples and running together.

http://www.hellawella.com/random-fascinating-statistics-about-runners/20567

If your buddy cannot be your spouse which is probably true for most, find friend or coworker.  I contend that a coworker or friend will GREATLY influence YOUR WEIGHT LOSS and keep you ACCOUNTABLE.

Accountability is really really important and I cannot say that enough.

If you simply do not have anyone in mind that could be your running buddy and are at a loss then I suggest utilizing a Running Club to network and I am positive that someone will be willing to run with you and at your pace.  There are people at every pace in these clubs and they will run with you.  Runners are a unique group and the support that we have as a group is phenomenal. 

Continuing with accountability, my third part of this recipe is...

3. Run in Events

One of the biggest things I have done that helps keep me motivated is to sign up for and pay for local and regional running events.  The wife and I try and do at least 1 race a month (I want to do one every weekend but she quickly reminds me how thin my wallet is).

I believe that by signing up for races, it forces you to get out there and do it.  This also provides me an opportunity to train for something.  For instance, I am training for my 2nd half marathon in Indianapolis so I have paid for and have been training for this race.  Had I not signed up for the race, it would be really easy to turn the alarm clock off or hit snooze.

One of the coolest secondary things associated with these local running events is that every time there is some sort of charity involved in the race.  Don't quote me on it, but I think it is tax deductible.  The fact that I am keeping myself fit and at the same time running for a worthwhile cause, is simply rewarding!

You can use the search on http://www.runnersworld.com/race-finder to find local races although not every race is probably listed.

So.... I struggled and hated running for a long long time.  But do me a favor,

1. Join a running club ...... 2. Find an accountability buddy ....... and 3. Sign up for races!

First Cross Country Coaching Job

My running journey began when I took a position as an Assistant Cross Country coach at Bradley Bourbonnais Community High School.  I teach science at this school and flat out saw an opportunity to coach a sport I had no experience in. 

I was dedicated to being able to run with the kids I coached.  To show them that I can do it and so can you.  Unfortunately, my devotion and passion was short lived.  I ran with the kids, intermittently but did a lot more bike riding than running.  It was a truly disappointing time in my life and certainly a regret.  

I did not stick it out for another year with the birth of my first born.  I choose to walk away from cross country coaching and, likewise, so did my running. 

I enjoyed coaching the kids and definetely saw it as my own source of inspiration.  Still keeping in contact with many of the kids from that team, albeit through social media, as continued to keep my motivated watching them achieve their goals.  Recently, Nolan Grace completed a marathon and he is doing another.  Here is the link to his fundraising for it.

https://goldenapple.myetap.org/fundraiser/2013marathon/individual.do?participationRef=488.0.346007579

I think of Marty Hinze (Concordia), Kevin Martin (Milikin) and Sarah Higgins (Bradley University) who are continuing to take their talents on to the college level. 

It has been awesome being associated with one of the toughest sports to participate in and watching these very talented young men and women work hard for their goals.  There are very few sports (proudly wrestling being one of them) in which an athlete's performance is singled out and running cross country is that.

Although I took a couple of years off, I am proud to say I am again coaching Boiler Cross Country and am hoping to build this program to be very competitive with the help of Head Coach Alison Zipper.  This season was a nice one locally, winning boys All City and All Area but we fell short of the conference/regional goals we set for ourselves.  We graduated a couple of seniors that have meant so much to the program (Mitchel Kahl and Colin Hanson) so we have work to do. 

Me - knower of some, expert of nothing

My name is Tony Swafford.  I am a father of 2 youngsters (Eli and Aly) and married to a former BBCHS cross runner Katie.  I am 5'6" and about (was) 170 pounds.  My journey with running is like a lot of peoples and I will use this blog to talk about it and do my best to try and motivate others who, like me, hate running.

I am a former soccer player and wrestler and left high school in great shape.  College was not kind to me though.  Although I exercised (mainly weight training) I put on weight due to my eating habits, work schedule, and propensity to suck back a few brews with friends.  I went from 125 pounds my senior year of high school to 170 by the time I was 22.  It wasn't all bad weight but at some point in my late 20's, I made a choice to begin running.

My beginning and subsequent ending of running became repetitive until a little over 2 years ago.  It was a roller coaster that I am sure many of you can relate to.  That is why I choose to create this blog.  To offer hope and provide inspiration to help others stay accountable to their plans.