Stop the Music (Warning: This is a Rant)

 

I've noticed an increasing and disturbing trend at some obstacle races this year, and it really stuck out at September's Vermont Beast. And it needs to stop. Now.

Your Friend Fear

Ask people what their motivation is for exercising and eating right, and you'll get a lot of different answers: wanting to be healthy, live longer, be stronger, fit into a bathing suit, make an ex jealous, etc.

Motivation is a personal ingredient to fitness. And whatever works for you is great. But when it comes to motivation, one motivator rises far above the rest: Fear.

I'm not talking about fear of abstract possibilities, as in if you are unhealthy and overweight you may eventually suffer from high blood pressure, diabetes, and an early death. These are certainly motivating factors to consider. But that's a fear of something that sometime, someday, mayhappen if I continue to live a certain way. That's the kind of abstract fear that looms in an uncertain future, one that is easy to ignore and put off.

The kind of fear that is the best motivator is a very real fear, a looming clear and present danger. Something with a hard date, that is approaching, is unavoidable, and will make you suffer unless you prepare.