Denouement

Your splits by quarter (going off memory) were:

1:29 - 1:28 - 1:31 - 1:30 (5:58) - 1:29 - 1:29 - 1:31 - 1:30 (5:59) - 1:30 - 1:33 (180 turn) - 1:30 - 1:30 (6:03) - 1:29 - 1:34, and 0.125 in 48. Based on the splits I think you would have easily made it to 4 at 6:00 pace if you were paid $100 per quarter after 3.

Michelle- do financial incentives make you work harder in your workouts?

This was a strong effort especially considering what you did on Saturday. Nice job. I'm sure you'll make 4 at 6:00 no problem next time, possibly 4.5 or 5!

Jon - what do you think? If financial incentives make her do somebody else's taxes...

Well, I work to make a living, i.e. to earn money. I run because I like it. To get me to work harder, I need financial incentive. To get me to run harder... I need to quit my job! But financial incentives would not do it. For things we don't enjoy, money helps. For things we do enjoy, I don't think it really does.

Getting to blog it should be enough incentive alone. But nice workout.

True, Paul- with running, you get "attention" reward on the blog. What more do any of us need?

I do not enjoy the last 6 miles of a marathon. In fact, I do not enjoy the last 20. Nor do I particularly enjoy doing what it takes to be fit. But I enjoy the end result. I enjoy being at a start of a race and being as confident in my ability to run to the finish in a certain time as I am in my ability to drive home without crashing afterwards. And I enjoy knowing that my legs can earn money. There is nothing exceptionally challenging about earning money with your head or your hands. Lots of people can do it. Earning it with your legs is a much more serious challenge. When you make it a goal, all of a sudden your inadequacies become more apparent, and you become more anxious to address them. Back in 2000 I raced for trophies and medals. Then in 2001 I decided I was done with it, my running had to be as cash positive as possible, my legs were a money earning weapon. There was a change, I became a different kind of runner, not only faster, but with better focus, more willing to do what it takes in my training and racing to run fast. Sure, I could have earned the money more easily working more on the side instead of running. But that would not have been the same. Money sometimes comes with a benefit, but more often than not comes at a cost. Road racing money comes to me with a benefit of health and spiritual growth, and teaching my children how to reach into the depths of the impossible and pull something out. Traditional work money rarely has such benefits, a good portion of the time you are helping somebody spin their wheels faster. Even if you have your own business it is nearly impossible to avoid the general drift of the economy.

Winning that 1000 bucks was a super a cool thing and it did give me some fire to train harder. But when it comes down to it I run for self gratification and to reach goals I set for myself, the money is cool when it comes.

That is a good explanation, Sasha. I think all of us run for the challenge, at least somewhat. One of your particular challenges is to win money.

I run primarily for 3 reasons- first, I love running in the mountains away from people, surrounded by nature, knowing that you are at the top of the mountain only because you ran there. Second, I am competitive and love challenging myself to improve, plus I feel good when running. Finally, running is something I control and it depends only on me- for example, I am not a perfect person and want to improve many areas of my life. But running is something I can conquer- I can run 6 days a week or run 20 miles. I may not be perfect, but I can meet my running goals.

My guess is that competition is one of the things that drives Michelle. I bet if there had been another fast chick a few seconds ahead she could have dug down and carried that pace thru for a few more quarters. Am I right?

Good run, by the way!

Great job today. It sounds like you have a good plan to increase your speed. Sasha, I am very impressed with your quoting quarters from memory-you could probably make some money doing that too!

Thanks all for your comments! Its been fun reading them including the banter. I can tell you that I am motivated by competition and money. I do not run to make money (I don't make money as a rule, my first cash is "In the mail" from Ogden. But if Sasha had given me $100 for each successive quarter you bet I would have gone further. But, I run because I love running, and because it is an arena where my natural competitive drive is an asset, not a liability. I also am very much into control, like Jon, so I like how this sport is highly individual. Unlike Sasha, in the two marathons I have done I have LIKED running the last 20 miles, and its mostly the last three that get me. At that point the thought of potential prize money can be helpful, when you're running out of reasons why to care about your pace or effort.

I hope so for my sake.

MichelleL, motivation, determination, can it be turned on and off at will? Good discussion. Some people just have that eye of the tiger. Does the money really matter? I would not let my mother beat me if I could help it. Pre was the ultimate example.

Stay Kool, Grunt More, B of BS Rools out