Not sure if it should be ‘Dedicated to Success’ or ‘Dedication to Success’ but I do know this, you need it (some sort of dedication) to reach true success. There are obviously all types of success, and as I’ve written before, my definition of success could be far different than yours, but in short success has a basic meaning that we all understand.

I was finally able to watch some of the 2009 Track and Field World Championships before they ended today, and if you want to talk about the dedication to success, these athletes train day after day to get to and compete at a world class level. For most of them training is their career, and it’s not over when the world championships are over or when the Olympics are over, they get right back to training.

I was in awe of the events I watched, even of the replays of events I missed, and the still shots wins and losses. The focus, desire, and pride of each of these individuals was so evident, in their posture, in their pre-event mental zone, when they won or didn’t win. In the pole vault, the second after the men’s gold medalist cleared the bar, he knew he won, and smiled the entire fall. When both the USA’s mens and womens 4x400m relay teams not only placed first but created extreme distances from themselves and the second place teams, it was like watching an impossibility, but that’s what they set out to do.

On the flip side, when the refs called a foul on the long jump, or when the USA’s womens 4x100m relay team fumbled the baton and were disqualified, a look of disbelief instantly came over them, everything they’d been working toward now needed to be worked at again.

When I was a track & field athlete and a swimmer, the pressure to perform seemed far greater than any soccer game I ever played in. Most of the events I did were individual events, a team didn’t directly rely on me, so once I was done with a throw, or once I touched the wall in swimming, the results were final and your reaction was real-time. There was no hiding your excitement (who would) but there was also no hiding any disaapointment you might have also experienced (there was tons of that at times.) There were some events you were expected to win, your team was counting on you.

I sometimes wonder what would have happened had one meet, in either sport, gone a little differently.

If I didn’t hit my head and nearly knocked myself out in the water…

If I never sprained my ankle at the start of my last season…

Would my definition of success be different than what it is today? Perhaps. I don’t know…I never will.

I have no idea where I’d be today if the ifs didn’t happen, but I do know where I am today because of the ones that did happen. There’s a different type of success in my life now than there was then, but success is still there, and it’s still something I work toward every single day. There’s not a moment in time, where I’d wish all the challenges would go away. It’d be too easy then, and there’d be nothing to work toward.

We experience success because of the tasks we’ve accepted. All the things I’ve done in life may not have resulted in a positive outcome, but the experience has taught me to apply what I’ve learned in the next scenario that arises.

Build upon what you know, and what you’ve learned and apply it toward your success.

Tags: 2009 track and field world championships, motivation, pamela macelree, success by Pamela
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I’ve previously talked a lot about motivation. All the way from wanting to be the best that you can be, to being competitive, to just doing it because you can.

There comes a time in all training programs where you might start to doubt what you’re doing, whether you’ll actually reach you’re end goal, or if all the sacrifice is really worth it.

Are you kidding me? So my new friend and awesome Coach, Dos, grouped me into a group of Hot Fit Chicks Today. When you say it outloud, it sounds funny. When you think about it, we’re lifting heavy shit, we’re really fit, we’re still feminine, and it’s awesome!

If that isn’t motivation to keep at it, make point, and help to change the mentality of women’s strength training, well then I don’t know what it is.

I do know, that I spoke in great detail with Rachel Cosgrove a few weeks ago, in fact I’m doing a whole skinny jeans transformation challenge over at Urban Athlete because of it. I talk with Holly Rigsby, the Fit Yummy Mummy, on a regular basis. And I get emails and messages on a daily basis from women and men, telling me how great my strength is.

Part of me has wondered…

Then the other quickly stepped in. I’ve trained really hard (as have my friends and colleagues) this is not joke. It’s time for women to step up to the plate, to recognize their potential, to believe in themselves, to know that everything they do with their strength and conditioning program will directly effect their everyday life in a positive way.

I could speak about it, until I’m blue in the face. That’s not going to do it. You have to try this. You have to get out there, and you have to challenge yourself. You have to want to be able to get through every day just a little bit easier. You have know that it’s all within your potential.

I have my mentors, I have my role models, I have my coaches, yet each day the people that motivate me the most, are the people that I help to realize all this, the people I help to become stronger and notice their potential. Talk about motivation!

Realize your potential.

Be strong.

Put forth the effort.

Recognize the benefits.

Become who you are.

Be motivated to get the job done, challenge yourself to do it, and if you need a little nudge, you know just where to find it.

Tags: fat loss, holly rigsby, motivation, pamela macelree, rachel cosgrove, womens strength training by Pamela
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We all know it too well, that moment when you’ve finally made some headyway in your training program, you’ve reached a few goals, your nutrition is solid, you feel great about yourself and what you’ve accomplished!

Then it happens, you go on vacation, you miss one day at the gym that turns into five, and all of sudden you think your body might have forgot how to do a squat. But more importantly you realize that you have no idea what’s going on with you because up until now if you missed you workout by a few hours your day was totally off, so how can you have possibly missed an entire week?

It’s easy to get out of the groove, so what can you do stay there, even when things go a little helter skelter?

First off, don’t beat yourself up, the negative energy will kill any momentum that might lingering in your path.

Second, start back on your plan right away. Don’t wait for next week to start, don’t wait til the weekend is over, just make a concerted effort to start the moment you realize you’ve fallen off the wagon.

Once you’ve gotten back on track be sure that you aren’t beating yourself up, give yourself a rest day, reward yourself for working hard (within reason) and get ready to conquer the next obstacle. You’ve probably faced much worse in life than falling off the wagon, so pick it back up and get ready to stay on track.

Look at it this way, you’ve devoted a lot time, effort and energy to make it to where you are, so why waste it on simple moment of weakness. Take it back and make it work for you, mostly because you can.

Tags: motivation, pamela macelree, womens strength training by Pamela
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Those of us who workout, do so for a reason, even if the reason’s because we like to workout.

Some of us have other reasons, such as health and longevity. Some of us want or need to lose some weight. Some of us have sports performance goals we want to work on.

Whatever the reason is, know what it is so you can focus on it while you workout.

Not only that but sometimes we need to dig deep into that motivation to get to a workout, or finish a workout.

We have a motivating factor inside of us, you just have to figure out what it is.

Then remind yourself of it, and see how your training benefits.

Tags: motivation, pamela macelree, womens strength training, workouts by Pamela
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