The morning crew.

In 2002, I was working as a personal trainer in a corporate fitness center in Richmond, VA. My shift started at 5:30 AM. My alarm went off at the 4:15 every morning. Getting up was hard, but going to bed at 8:00 PM was sometimes even harder. The one thing that always made it a little easier, however, was that I wasn't doing it for nothing. As soon as I unlocked the gym door at 5:30 AM I’d see a line of bleary-eyed patrons ready to go, each of them holding their work clothes draped neatly over coat hangers and ready to go exercise. This batch of patrons we called “the morning crew” displayed an unusual amount of commitment. They led busy lives, like all of us. At some point they realized that if they were going to get a workout in at all, it would have to be when most people were still asleep. I worked at this fitness center for 3 years, and I often look back on this time with fond memories. I was young and impressionable then, and I now know that I learned a ton about what commitment looked like.

Our goals as runners vary, but whatever the goal, commitment is the one ingredient that you cannot do without. Commitment also correlates strongly with purpose. If you can find a good purpose to get active, stay fit, push your limits, and set big goals, then commitment almost takes care of itself. Commitment is what transforms these goals into achievements.

Dean Karnazes famously wrote in his book Ultra Marathon Man, “Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must, but never give up.” 

How do you go about staying committed? We'd love to know, so please drop a comment below.

-Thys