A better description
Here is a more comprehensive video of our next challenge Marathon des Sables:
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Nov 27
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What’s next?
In case you dont know what we train for right now:
How long will we run? 250km :)
Where? In the Moroccan desert of course.
Do we have to carry supplies for a week in our backpacks? Oh yes!
But where are we sleeping? In tents among scorpions and snakes!
Inspiration and motivation, two sides of the same coin?
When you google the words motivation and inspiration, you find two very different definitions. Many of us – including myself – often use the terms interchangeably, even though their actual meanings are very different.
Motivation is about pushing yourself to reach a certain goal. You are motivated when you have an idea of what you wish to accomplish and thus work hard at reaching your objective in a more or less disciplined way.
Inspiration originally means “the act of breathing in”. Inspiration is when a certain idea gets hold of you and carries you where you are meant to go.
Confused? Me too. The words mean the same thing, and yet, they do not. But I think that in my head, I see inspiration as the actual source of motivation. So here is a video that’s meant to inspire you with its pictures (they certainly inspired us!) and to motivate you with its words. Please enjoy.
Crunching numbers
If you would bear with me, please, I would like to do some number crunching. You see, we runners tend to nerd off in the general direction of digits from time to time, especially when it comes to interval training. I have never met at runner who likes intervals. Everybody hates it. But if you want to become a better and faster runner, this is exactly how you need to train from time to time. Read more
Motivation
Why we do all this is a question often asked by friends and family. People are curious what motivates us. This is particularly true in my family where, until recently, the biggest athletic achievement was performed by my dad in 1995 when he ran 25 meters between the car and the office front door. In such context you can imagine that the question of why is enigmatic.
Truth be told, its not a simple question to answer. Sitting on the plan to New York, Jakob and I were discussing what motivates us. Things like “keeping fit”, “spending time together”, “experience stuff”, “travel” popped into our heads. That is all true, but we can keep fit by going to a local gym and we can spend time together in roof-top bars and good restaurants. So what is it? To be frank, im not sure. But whenever this doubt makes me feel lazy I look at this video and get fully energized and motivated to go out training.
Rainy, rainy, rainy
As I was waking up this morning, the rain was tapping gently on our slanted roof windows. My first thought: OK, I’ll push back my planned two-hour-run to the afternoon. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, is more appealing when waking in the morning than slowly lower your head to your inviting, soft pillow and resume your calm and soundless breathing. Read more
Dark and muddy in Slovakia
The most violent storm to hit New York in more than a hundred years. A marathon cancelled less than 40 hours prior to its start. A vindication of sorts in the form of an alternative race at 7 am on marathon day. Fantastic breakfasts, lunches (here’s looking at you, Michelin-star-awarded Breslin) and dinners. Wonderful strolls through Central Park and soothing visits to the Metropolitan and Guggenheim. Absolutely awesome parties at New York’s hippest (we were told so!) and most exclusive (well, obviously not, since they let us in) clubs (the VIP-lounge at the rooftop of Meatpacking District’s the Standard vs. simply, the Box). Morning runs along East River, across Williamsburg Bridge and back across a beautiful Brooklyn Bridge. Presidential election-night-bonanza. Shopping ’til we literally dropped. Renting an SUV and playing really loud and offensive rap with our windows down. Driving through a New Jersey snowstorm. Admiring the High Line. Haggling with cheap antique dealers. And finally a champagne luncheon with our family. Read more
A Brooklyn loop
Central Park is a runner’s heaven, with a healthy mixture of wide, hard roads of asphalt, gravelly footpaths, immense grassy fields and even a couple of ponds for the adventurous triathlete. But there is more to running in Manhattan than just Central Park. This morning, we stood up bright and early for a short – or so we thought – run over to Brooklyn and back. Read more
An alternative marathon
Sometimes you have to punch your friend in the face to make sure he’s not dreaming. Or was it pinch your own arm? Anyway, as depressed as we were yesterday, we sure managed to turn it into positive energy today! I apologize, by the way, for the melancholy tone of yesterday’s post. Reading through it I almost seemed suicidal, which clearly was not the case. Even so, we were pretty bummed, as it were. Read more
Jakob & Jakob 