Despite loving running we all have those days where we just don’t want to go out and run. To me running is an addiction I use it to keep fit, achieve my goals, socialise and escape the worries, stress and struggles of everyday life.
Running helped me massively through some tough times during my teenage years. Seeing how much it helped me I make sure I don’t let myself get too lazy, as I know if I don’t run it’ll get my emotions flowing, it’s sort of like a medicine.
So in this blog I’m not going to tell you how to stay motivated, because as we know everyone is different, what I do may not work for you and vice versa. Instead I’m going to be talking about what motivates me and what I know motivates my fellow running buddies, hopefully you can take something from this post and it’ll help you get the most out of the best sport in the world.
Train with people
If you can, try and train with some friends. For me training with friends makes the miles pass by quickly, if you’re having a tough day running a long run alone can be daunting and the last thing you want to do. Maybe organise to run with a friend and have a coffee and cake after, that’ll hopefully make the run ahead less daunting and make it easier to get out the door.
It’s quite easy to come home from work, or take a seat on the sofa. I know for a fact as soon as I sit down it makes it 10 times harder to get out and go for a run. If you’ve pre-arranged to run with someone or they’re picking you up then you’re accountable, someone will be waiting for you or expecting to see you. From my experience I always used to struggle to wake up at 7am to go for a Sunday long run in the hills with friends, eventually the term ‘#EverySunday’ became a joke as I mentioned I’ll be there every Sunday. From that little joke I’ve been more motivated to show up each week when I can. It also helps that I travel with people so sending a text saying “I’m not coming because I’m still in bed” or another excuse is harder than getting up and going out with them all.
Switch up your routes
I always find switching up my routes helps a lot. Before my Berlin Marathon training block in the summer of 2019 I set up running routes ranging from 4 to 12 miles, I made four of each distance 2 from home and 2 from work. By doing this I had the chance to avoid the seafront when it’s windy, go a little bit off-road if it was dry and run in quieter areas if I wanted to chill out and unwind.
Don’t be afraid to ignore your plan slightly, not all the time but sometimes. Following a plan religiously can get a little tedious and tough. For example if your plan says easy 6 what’s the harm in just going out and running. Don’t set a route just run and turn down a new road, explore a bit come back and see what you’re at, you can always add more.
Set short term goals
We all set goals at the start of the year don’t we? I know I did, and how good does it feel when you achieve that goal? So what I’m trying to get at is, achieving your goals give you such a good buzz and sense of achievement, but why wait months or even the whole year to achieve them? Set shorter goals, for example if your yearly goal is to run 2,000 miles, why not set a shorter goal to run a 170 mile month or a 40 mile week. Or if your yearly goal is to run a sub 50 10k and your current PB is 55 minutes, then work your way down. As an example of short term goals it would be, 25 minutes for a 5k and 52 minutes for a 10k.
By setting ourselves short term goals we’re giving ourselves a chance to get ‘that buzz’ from meeting our goals, they’re also steps towards your big yearly goals so you don’t lose track of them.
New running or recovery gear
Now I don’t like saying materialistic things but…. I’m going to. Using new running or recovery gear always motivates me, to go out and try it, or go for a tough run and use the recovery gear when I get home. Now I’m not saying that you have to go and buy new gear, why not ask a friend? They may have something that you could borrow and try yourself, just having that excitement of knowing you’re going to be trying out something new can give you that extra push
Train at different times
If you can try and train at different times of the day, rather than a fixed routine. Sometimes for me there’s nothing worse than coming home after a day at work to the run in the dark. Or on the other hand I’d look forward to going out, putting my light on and running in the dark, it’s quieter and I can go about my own business. By having a fixed time of when you run each day you can feel quite isolated, switch it up and run when you can, whilst you can
Top tip and quote of the blog
Don’t make running become a chore,
do it because you enjoy it,
Do it because you can
Thank you for reading 🙂
Jack Penfold 