What motivates you to get outside and explore? Who is the one person that is always there to give you that extra push to move? If you’re feeling lazy where do you go for a little inspiration? Is there a certain group of people you depend on to keep you accountable day in + day out?

What is your motivation to move!?

For me…I don’t have a quick answer. I don’t have one individual in my life that keeps me going, instead I have a whole passel of #runablers that are forever giving me a reason to try something new. I don’t have a single goal that gets me out the door every day, I have an entire range of mountains on the horizon full of single track just calling my name.

That is what keeps me going, what gives me a reason to get up at 4am for a training run, encourages me to eat ice cream instead of try to out run an injury, keeps me grounded when things get surreal and has me asking questions even if they seem stupid.

The People

I’m not exactly experienced enough to offer up much good trail running advice but if you asked me about the one thing I could not succeed without I only have one simple answer…the people in my life who are forever encouraging and supporting crazy ideas. Or, as I like to call them, my #runablers. People like Lynne, Marissa, Paula, Logan and Heather [and so many more!] who don’t hesitate to say “you’re crazy…let me help you survive the misery”.

But it goes beyond my circle of friends and expands to people whose names I may never know, people I only recognize when they are in running attire and have a bib pinned to their shorts, people who sacrifice personal time and energy to help strangers with no expectations of reciprocation, people who offer up support and encouragement to their competitors because they understand what they’re going through. In the past year I’ve encountered a lot of people like this through the running community…both on the road and on the trail, during 5Ks and triple digit ultras distances, through Twitter, forums and friends of friends of friends.

It is this community that motivates me to get my butt outside to train, explore and give back. This community is an eclectic mix of strong wills, hot heads and inflated egos…but if you take the time to look past that you’ll find those willing to offer up endless encouragement, advice buried in personal experiences and daily doses of motivation. These are the people that make up the backbone of the community; the people I seek out when I need someone to say “well, I think you’re an idiot but let me help you prove us all wrong!” or “you’re totally capable of this…here’s my two cents, feel free to take it or leave it”.

If you haven’t found this part of the community yet…don’t give up! Put yourself out there…take opportunities to run with others, show up for run groups at your local running store, jump into #runchat and #ultrachat conversations, read up on posts + ask questions in the Trail and Ultra Running Facebook group, humbly accept advice but take every single word as a grain of salt. It may seem overwhelming at first, trust me, I’ve been there – it’s nerve-racking to be the newbie in a group but you’ll never have a chance to experience this community as I know it without showing up and taking a chance!

The Mountains

You know those days when people are annoying, conversations are stupid and you feel inadequate + judged for every thought your brain forms? I can’t be the only person that occasionally has moments like this, right!? Or maybe this is weird problem that only I have? Regardless, this is when I know I need to escape…I need to get my country girl fix with a trip into the mountains where a cell signal cannot find me. This is when the mountains are a true motivator!

Sure, the mountains are a great motivator on a daily basis…they are always on the horizon reminding me I need to be nice to my body so it can hike the winding trails and that I need to plan my workload wisely so I can escape to a trailhead for a little alone time on a regular basis. But it is knowing that, even with “life happens” at the most inconvenient times, the mountains will always be there just waiting for me to show up.

It seems weird giving inanimate rock formations so much credit but I know they’ll be there when I need them and they will never judge me. They might chew me up and spit me out but they’ll never turn me away. Instead they’ll let me wander around, experience the best and worst of Mother Nature and return to the city with a new take on life and a refreshed understanding of priorities and personal purpose.

Are my motivations to move a little vague and far fetched? Well, I didn’t think so until I tried to explain them but their my motivators and I’m sticking to them! If you’re busy judging me for being crazy…come visit, I’ll show you how therapeutic a trip to the mountains can be and just how selfless the running community in Colorado is! But be careful what you wish for, you may end up moving to Colorado or impulse signing up for race!

PS – I do need to give credit where credit is due and say that my mother is a huge motivator! I cannot tell you the number of times I’ve done something crazy and thought “well, I can’t help that I’m my mother’s daughter…” and then called her with the story. I am the person I am today because of her and I truly hope she takes that as a compliment!

Disclaimer: The motivation to take a look at my own motivators and write this post came from Oscar Health Insurance, an health insurance provider in New York + New Jersey. They suggested this topic to me in correlation with Health Literacy Month. They are not compensating me for this post in any way, with apparel, gear or money…they simply provided a suggestion and I ran with it because it got me thinking! These truly are mot motives and if you can find something similar to get your tush outside for a little fun on the trails then…mission accomplished! 


6 Comments

The Padre · October 22, 2021 at 9:11 am

When you live in Colorado ( Grand Junction ) moving outside is a no brainer. My true motivation comes from the Boy Dog. He wakes up happy, he eats with enthusiasm, he stretching before we go, & he loves single track trails. Stay Strong & Thanx For The Photos!!! Cheers

    Heidi Nicole · October 22, 2021 at 9:53 am

    Yup — love the mountains always calling you outside! And it doesn’t hurt to have a smiling pup waiting for you!

Natalie @ Free Range Human · October 22, 2021 at 9:23 am

I totally understand and totally agree. In fact, I’m having one of those kinds of days and needed to come get some mountain inspiration from you 🙂

    Heidi Nicole · October 22, 2021 at 9:55 am

    Those mountains are very convincing piles of rock… 🙂

Chris · November 4, 2021 at 12:05 am

Hmm, what motivates me…that is a great question and I loved your answer. The selfless people who give without any expectation is something that is truly motivational, isn’t it? I completely agree with ya there! I’d also have to add “problems that I know I can successfully solve” to the motivational list. I’ve learned that solving problems makes the gray matter upstairs pretty happy.

    Heidi Nicole · November 6, 2021 at 5:12 pm

    Or a problem you can probably successfully solve…then work on until you get it figured out! Because, really, you can solve all the problems if you can find the motivation to keep working on the solution!

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