Advice from Olympic Athletes Who Struck Gold

The Olympics are so inspiring. We get to watch athletes from around the world hug, high five and support each other. We see interviews with athletes who have overcome incredibly hard circumstances and risen to the top. We hear stories of hard work and determination. Getting to the Olympics is such an incredible accomplishment. Imagine the training and discipline required to get there. Imagine not only getting there, but winning a GOLD medal. Luckily, these awe inspiring athletes are sometimes willing to share advice with the rest of us.

“I think goals should never be easy, they should force you to work, even if they are uncomfortable at the time.”

-Michael Phelps (23 Olympic Gold Medals)

Most of us probably don’t want to admit how many times we’ve written something we’ve already done on our to-do list just to feel accomplished (just me?). The reality is, if we don’t set goals to push ourselves, we won’t grow. It’s the bosses and coaches that push us beyond our limits that seem to have the most impact on our lives. It’s the races where we set the goal faster than we ever thought we could run that we seem to feel the most motivated to train. Obviously, Michael Phelps didn’t win 23 gold medals by always setting goals he was comfortable with. Whether it’s a work, running or personal goals, move the line a little further away and see what you’re really made of.

“Enjoy the ride … You don’t have to be serious all the time to do a good job.”

-Simone Biles (4 Olympic Gold Medals)

Have you ever had that one teammate or coworker that was way too serious all the time? How motivated were you to work with that person? Having a little fun during your work or training can help you to relieve stress and ultimately do a better job. You don’t have to be off-task to be having fun. If Biles, who is being called the greatest gymnast of all time (she has a move named after her that no one else in the world can do, for goodness sake!) can take the time to have a little fun doing what she’s doing, you can to. After all, don’t we all want to enjoy what we do?

 

“If you train hard, if you work hard every day of the week, you just got to go there and compete knowing you're in great shape … If you are in the best shape you can be, it doesn’t matter if you lose, you know that you’ve done your best.”

-Usain Bolt (9 Olympic Gold Medals)

 

This. Put in your training, do the hard work, put in the extra time. After you’ve done everything you can to succeed, TRUST YOURSELF. Whether you’re going in for an interview you know you can crush, or standing at the starting line of that marathon you’re ready to PR on. Know that you have put in the work and that you can do it. When you truly know that, you can find peace in the results knowing that you did the most amazing job you were capable of, because you put in the work and trusted yourself to do so.  

Running Motivation: 5 Tips for When You’re Just Not Feeling It

No matter who you are or how much you love to run, there comes a time during training that you have NO desire to lace up those shoes and get out there. Here are five tips to get yourself out the door.

1.     Picture yourself reaching your goal.

Whether your goal is to finish your first 5k or PR on your 50th marathon, picture yourself at the end of the race. How do you feel knowing you got your training in and did everything in your power to crush this goal? If you’ve ever been struggling 10 miles into a race you hadn’t prepared well for, you understand how disappointing it is and how hard it is to keep going. If you haven’t, believe me, you don’t want to be there! Always remember that every run and every mile counts.

2.     Invite a friend.

Sometimes the best motivation is knowing that someone is expecting you to be there. Text a friend and set a time to run. You don’t want to let your friend down and you definitely don’t want them to know that you skipped out on your workout for the day!

3.     Speaking of friends… Get an accountability partner.

Accountability partners are awesome for keeping you on track with all sorts of things from finances to healthy eating. Having someone who understands you, your situation and your goals and is willing to push you to get there can make all the difference in your motivation! The most important thing to consider when choosing your accountability partner is how tough they’re willing to be with you. You want someone who will hold you to your own goals, not someone who will enable you to skip your training runs regularly. Choose someone who you’re close enough with that they can push you, but who understands you enough that they won’t make you cry. Running is hard when you’re crying.

4.     Reward yourself.  

This isn’t about giving yourself permission to ‘Treat Yo Self’ every day after your run. However, sometimes frozen yogurt or a movie night with a friend is just the motivation you need to get yourself going.

5.     Promise yourself one mile.

This advice stems from a podcast called The Chalene Show from celebrity fitness coach Chalene Johnson. When Chalene just doesn’t feel like working out, she sets an alarm on her phone for five minutes and promises herself only those five minutes. If you really don’t feel like doing your run today, promise yourself just one mile. Sometimes you’ll finish the mile and realize you’re still not feeling it and that’s okay, give yourself the day. BUT, most of the time, you’ll get through the mile and feel pumped to keep going.

How do you motivate yourself when you’re not feeling it? The most important thing is to find what works for you and get out there! Happy Running!

Save the Bib

 

 

If you are anything like me, you start getting emotionally attached to the races you run.  For better or for worse, you go to great lengths to remember the details each race you conquer.  So how does Race Bib Tape work for those that want to keep their race bibs for a keepsake?

 

Once the tape is applied to the race bib, it’s going to be difficult to remove from the bib.  This is great news during the race, because it keeps it right were it needs to be.  But it makes it a little tricky to keep the bib from sticking to things you don’t want it to after the race.  Here is a simple fix:

 

1.     Keep your race bib secure after the race.  The best way to do this is to either keep it on or pull it off and stick it on another surface, like a bag or an article of clothing you aren’t wearing.

2.     When you are home, put a piece of single-sided tape over the Race Bib Tape to cover up the adhesive.  Once you do this, your bib is as good as new and you are free to save and display your bib like you usually would.  You can also cut out any strip of paper to place over the exposed adhesive.

3.     Depending on how you display your bibs, you might just peel it off your shirt and stick it right into your display case or scrapbook.  There will be plenty of hold left in the tape, so just stick it and leave it.

 

How do you keep your race bibs after a race?  We would love to check it out!  Send your photos to tim@racebibtape.com and we will feature some of your bibs on our blog.

 

Race Bib Tape Review

We have had a lot of people testing out Race Bib Tape and we are getting more and more excited.  Here is a great review from one of our testers:

 I got to try out the race bid tape for the first time today.  I was very impressed at the way the tape held my bib to my shorts.  After 11 miles it was still holding on strong.  When I pulled the bib and tape off of my shorts there was no tape resisdue or anything else that I could see left onthe fabric of my clothing.  I am one that saves each of my race bibs so I had to place some scotch tape over the bib tape to save with all of my other bibs but that was no big deal.  I can't wait to try this bib tape on one of my ultra marathons up in the mountains where the environment is a lot more harsh.   Great product as far as I can see.  It was nice not to have to use pins to put holes in my clothes. -Tyson R.

How to Influence Someone

One of the hardest things in life is to try to get someone to do something they don't want to do. Whether you are a coach trying to inspire your team to put in the extra effort, a manager trying to lead your employees to greatness or a parent trying to get your children to make good choices, trying to motivate people is always a challenge.  I came across a quote the other day that I really like and gives a great roadmap on how to influence and motivate someone. 

"The only way to influence someone is to find out what they want, then show them how to get it." -Dale Carnegie

I really like the simplicity of this quote.  If you really understand what someone really wants, what their core values are, what their goals and aspirations are, that's when you will be able to influence them.  That's when you will be able to show them how to get what they want.  Once they have a clear picture of how they can get what they want, the rest will take care of itself.

Make Running a Habit

I have been running for almost 25 years now.  But I must admit, my commitment levels have varied greatly through the years.  In high school, I would run six days a week and many days I would run twice.  In college, I would run 4-5 days a week training for marathons.  In the past 10 years or so, my running has dropped on average to 2-3 times and I've started developing my "dad bod".  I've done a number of half marathons in the past 10 years, but haven't trained for much more than that.  

I was recently listening to one of my favorite podcasts, the Marathon Training Academy  and they interviewed an author by the name of Hal Elrod that wrote a book called The Miracle Morning.  It was a great interview and inspired me to do something I haven't done in a long time. I've started waking up early and going running 6 days a week.  I had a feeling that this something that could change my life.  Well, it certainly has.

Running everyday has become a habit.  I have lost 9 pounds in 9 weeks, I have had more energy and clearer thoughts, and I have been so much happier.  Is it aways easy to get up at 5:20 am?  No.  But I have many more good mornings than hard ones.  I am getting into better shape than I've been in for a long time and have done so injury free.  I'm finding that there's great power doing little things consistently over a long period of time.  What small habits can you form in your life that, over time, will make a huge difference? 

If you are looking for more inspiration on forming consistent habits, I highly recommend Darren Hardy's book The Compound Effect.