If you love to do something it's not work. People who love their jobs may say that they don't ever have to go to work. But to be good at their jobs they must constantly practice their trade. And so it is with running. If you ever expect to reach your potential as a runner you've got to run and you've go to enjoy it. The enjoyment of running will tend to lead to the performance side of running. In other words in you're into the process the product will come by itself!

Many people wrongly believe that runners are some different breed that either love pain or are somehow completely immune to discomfort. Otherwise, how in the world could someone go out everyday and "torture" him or herself like runners do? Surely it must take some type of amazing self-discipline to get out and run on a daily basis.

But if you really love doing something, then is it self- discipline that makes you do it? Over time running becomes an activity that requires little self-discipline. After years of running there is probably more self-discipline required to rest properly for races than it is to train for them. The more years you run the better you become at monitoring your body's feedback, like breathing rate, perceived exertion, muscle discomfort and how you should feel at a particular pace per mile. To the average person running may mean discomfort, but to the experienced runner the physical exertion of running is a gateway to experiencing feelings of satisfaction and pleasure that come from pushing the body beyond it's everyday homeostasis.

So most experienced runners probably never give self- discipline a thought. It's like when you enjoy music. It certainly doesn't take a lot of self-discipline to pop in a CD of your favorite artist. If you enjoy running then self- discipline really isn't a factor and you simply, as one major sporting goods company would say, "just do it".

Sure, there will be times if you train and race hard that you may question whether you're having "fun", but the hard training and racing really serve to increase your running confidence, which in turn, further increases your desire to run. So really the harder you work the more you like to get out and run.

If you know you've trained well then running in races is looked upon with positive anticipation because of your confidence. Most runners love to race when they feel confident. For the well-trained, experienced runner the race is not a dreaded event, but one that is positively anticipated and genuinely enjoyed. You love the race and don't need any special will power or motivation to get yourself prepared and excited about racing. When you really, really look forward to a race, in most cases is when you perform your best. When you love to do something you don't get nervous or anxious about it, you just let it happen!

Most coaches would agree that if you always have to force people to train and do things they don't want to do, then they probably wouldn't be able to run to their true capability, plus they'll be miserable at the same time. Think about runners you know. Do they make their living from running? Is anyone out there forcing them to run each day? Probably not. They run because they love it and they keep running year after year because they love it.

I guess you could say that almost all runners are very much intrinsically motivated. Probably a major reason why intrinsic motivation is so high in runners is because running success can be defined on different terms for different people. Not everyone is an Olympian and not everyone wins awards, but when you strive to meet personal performance goals and then reach them, positive feelings almost certainly follow. By setting realistic goals that are challenging, yet attainable, you're setting yourself up for success and with success come increased motivation and increased self-esteem. With these positive emotions comes a very, very strong sense of enjoyment. For non- runners the idea of physical exertion and enjoyment may seem to be an oxymoron, but for runners there is nothing anymore enjoyable than a run on a day with beautiful weather, on a nice courses when the body is rested and hitting on all cylinders.

Maybe the average American can't understand just why runners love to run so much, because all too often, especially in sport, running is used as a form of punishment. If you punish someone by making them run then it's going to be very difficult to ever think that running can be done for pure fun. Try to never punish a child by making them run. The link between running and punishment will inhibit the development of intrinsic motivation for running. Running is pleasure, not punishment!

When you love what you're doing you increase the likelihood of getting into the "flow state" where concentration is total, running seems effortless and you lose all sense of time and self. It's during this state when most athletes have the performances of their lives and great performances are something all of us love. Ah yes, the great sport of running: do it because you love it and love it because you do it!