Chapter 6
Finding Motivation – Part 2
“When I come home from work, as I am changing into my running clothes, I listen to one of my favourite ‘pump up’ song. It puts me in a great mood and gets me going” ~ Lorilynn Hoffman, runner
Long Term Strategies
So there are several little tricks you can try to get yourself going on any particular day, but sometimes the running blahs can last for days, weeks, months. Some runners find they have seasonal motivation deficit disorder: they shiver at the thought of running through the winter or cringe at the summer’s heat. Of course, you don’t have to run year round, but if you want to, there are several strategies you can use to make it easier to get out the door when the going get tough. Remember, the toughest part is getting out there. Once you’re running- whether through rain, sleet or snow – the good feeling of it all returns and you wonder why you ever hesitated in the first place.
Pair Up with a Partner
Running with someone –human or canine – is a great motivator in many ways. It’s easy to bag your own run but not so easy to cancel plans with a friend. Besides, who’s want to? Running with a friend is fun! You can talk the whole way and the miles just fly by.
Keep a Training Log
Whether in a special running log, a calendar, or your computer just write down your goals – what you hope to do for the day, the week and the month. Then each day, record what you actually do in km or time spent running. This is the guilt method of motivation. It’s hard to look at a week of zero.
Keeping a training log can be helpful in other way too. If you make notes about your run – temperature, course, time of day, how you felt, how fast you ran (if that’s important) – you’ll be able to learn a lot about your running. When you’ve been running a few years, it can be fun to revisit the experience you’ve recorded.
Set Goals
Want to keep running? Chase a goal. It could be increasing your weekly km from 15 to 25 km or completing in a 10km run. Racing provides the perfect goal–setting opportunity. In fact, many runners use a marathon to maintain their motivation. The training can take anywhere from 3 months to a year, depending on your experience and level of fitness, you can’t skimp on your running if you want to complete a marathon. Training for short races can be motivating as well. Completing a race regardless of distance or how fast you run leaves you with a special feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment. You can increase that satisfaction and exponentially by running a little faster the next time you participate in a race of the same distance. Wanting to improve at running is one of the greatest motivators of all.
Mix It Up
If running is becoming a drag, take a look at a typical week in your program. Are you running the same 5km at the same pace every day? No wonder you don’t feel like it anymore! Try to make everyday different. It’s easy. The options are many. There are long runs, medium runs, short runs, slow runs, fast runs, slow and fast runs, uphill runs, downhill runs, runs on grass, runs on the track, run on a trail, runs on a treadmill, runs alone, runs with a friend, runs with a group, races etc…
You don’t have to run everyday. Mix in some cross training – mountain biking, inline skating, skating, weight lifting, soccer, tennis, your choices are endless. Also, take at least 1 day rest each week. It gives your body a break and leaves you feeling fresher for your next active day.
Sometimes you need to step back and take an even longer view of your running. For example, if you’re always racing distances of 5 km or longer consider training to race a mile or look for a local track meet that’s open to the public.
Become a Coach
Do you know someone who wants to take up running but isn’t quite sure how to get started? Perhaps you have a friend or sister or brother whom you think might enjoy the sport. Consider offering your assistance as a “coach” and running partner. This shifts your focus away from your own training, providing a psychological and physical break while still keeping you active. More important, helping someone else find joy in running might renew your own.
Take a Break
If you can’t seem to find the joy in running no matter what you do, it’s a sign that you should take some time off, especially if you find that when you do go for a run it’s slow and sluggish and leaves you feeling more fatigued than energized. You may be experiencing symptoms of overtraining – running too much and/or too fast for to long. A period of complete rest will revive your body and mind. In fact after you’ve stopped running for a while, chances are that you’ll miss it. You’ll become hungry to run again. You’ll get edgy and fidgety, and the only way to resolve the anxiety of inactivity will be to run.
Making Time to Run
Not surprisingly, the number one reason most women give for not running is lack of time. Going to college, developing a career and raising children are each demanding in their own right, and many women balance at least two of them. To add to that most are trying to nurture a meaningful relationship with a partner, keeping up with household responsibilities, maintaining friendships plus make time for interests other than running. Our lives fill up so fast! Occasionally, we all could use some suggestions on how to fit in a run.
The Early Bird Gets the Run
Runner’s World magazine once asked its women readers how they fit running into their busy lives. More than half of the responders said they run early in the morning before work or before the family wakes up – some even before the birds start chirping. Does the thought of getting out of bed early sound as feasible to you as pushing aboulder up a hill? Well, if you just can’t seem to find time during the rest of the day, at least give it a try. Many women admit that the first week or two can be tough, but, like anything else, themore you do it, the easier it gets. You may surprise yourself and find you love to run in the morning.
Run – Don’t Drive to Work
Provided there’s a shower in your office building and you can stash some clothes in your office the night before, consider running to work. Take the bus or train home or get a ride from a co-worker who lives near you. If you have a bicycle, you can cycle to work and run home, then reverse the routine the next day.
Run During Your Lunch Hour
Using your lunch hour to run may be the most efficient way to fit a run into your day, and it gives you an energy boost for the afternoon. Give yourself 10 minutes to get into your running clothes; 30 minutes to run; and 20 minutes for a quick shower, change of clothes and touch ups to your hair and/or makeup. You can eat lunch afterwards at you desk.
Run Errands
Need to stop at the drugstore, mail some letters, deposit a cheque in the bank? Leave the car in the garage and do your errands on foot. You accomplish your tasks and get your run in at the same time. Simply get yourself a fanny pack or a light weight knapsack for carrying around the items that you need to take with you.
Involve Your Children
When you have children, it’s much more difficult to find the time to run. Hopefully you and your partner can make arrangements for one of you to be home while the other one runs, but that’s not always possible. If you know another running mom, perhaps the two of you can arrange to trade baby-sitting.
When no one is available to be with your children, consider taking them with you. You can push our littlest one along in a running stroller or take you toddlers to a nearby track, where you can keep an eye on them while play inside the oval. Some women have devised creative strategies, such as setting a baby monitor outside while they run laps around their house or up and down the driveway. Older children can bike, skate or run alongside you. Involving your children will make your run more fun. It’s a great way to spend time with them, and show them the importance of staying active and fit.
Get a Treadmill
Running on a treadmill isn’t the most fun way to run, but it is awfully convenient, especially if you have a family and need to be at home.
Be Spontaneous
Always have a sports bag packed with running clothes, shoes and a towel in your car so that you can take advantage of an opportunity to run.
Getting Back to Running after a Layoff
Many of us take a break from regular running at some point. It could be that an injury has you off your feet for a while, or you moved and started anew job that temporarily interrupted your routine. Perhaps you decided to stop running during a pregnancy or maybe for 3 or 4 years while your children are young. Whatever the reason for the break, your life has settled into a new order now, and your thoughts have turned back to running again.
To go out for a refreshing 5km run would feel so great. The reality is, however that you’ve lost your fitness and even 5km of running seems daunting. You just know you will labour through your first run in months, huffing and puffing and slogging through whatever distance you cover.
Although it’s true you can’t go out and clip of a quick 5kms, you don’t have to suffer either. Just start slow and gradually ease your way back into running. If you’ve been inactive for a few months or more, begin with walking – 20 to 30 minutes every other day for a couple of weeks. Then start mixing in some running – walk for a few minutes, run for a few, walk, run. Each week, run a little more, walk a little less. Just be sure that you are running comfortably. You should be able to carry a conversation; if you can’t slow down. By making a gradual return to running you’ll enjoy it more, you’ll stick with it, and you’ll prevent injury, which you are more susceptible to during a comeback. Before you know it, you’ll be running a brisk and easy 5km again and loving every minute of it.