Tired, not Done....

Think of the last time you were in a race or workout and felt yourself starting to get tired.  What happened at that moment?  Did you immediately start to slow down, cut the workout short or lose focus and talk yourself out of continuing all together?  Or, did you push through and keep going?   

I'm sure we've all been guilty of giving in when the little voice inside our head says "Man, I sure am getting tired" or when our legs start to feel a little heavy or we start feeling weaker.  However, have you ever had the thought of quitting and continued on anyway finishing the race or workout?  If so, you'll know that despite what your mind was thinking or your body feeling, you had more to give.   

As a runner, it's important to learn the difference between being "Tired" and being "Done".  Being tired is the natural occurrences from pushing yourself; such as feeling fatigued, heavy legs from lactic acid build up or your energy level dropping.  Being tired is okay and should be expected; however, recognize it as just that...."tired".  

Being "Done" is when you collapse because your body is spent and has nothing left to give (as demonstrated in the below video) or when an injury occurs and it's smarter to stop whether than continuing potentially making it worse.    

With "Done" being portrayed in the above video, most runners have never hit that point whether in a race or workout.  This means what's being experienced most the time, is just feeling "Tired". 

Now that you can see the difference between being "tired" and being "done", what can you do when you start feeling tired so you don't end up calling it "done"?  Watch the below demonstration to see what you can do to make sure you don't succumb to being "tired" and finish what you started.  

As you saw in the above demonstration, just because you're tired doesn't mean you're done.  With the right motivation (ie. "Dollar") Bryson was able to do more push ups.  So what's your dollar?  What is it that will motivate you to do push yourself onward even if you are tired?  Take some time and do some soul searching and decide what you want your "Dollar" to be.  Then, when it's time to spend it, pull it out and use it.