I run for...motivation.

May not be the ocean or even a lake but it was the perfect landscape for my morning run today.

The title of this blog post might seem confusing. After all, wouldn’t I run because I’m motivated? But I mean what I say. I run for motivation. I have to admit that I’ve been lazy lately. I will reluctantly let you in on a little secret. I have gained 10 pounds in the last 2 months due to poor diet and not much running. To my defense I was sick for almost the entire month of December which significantly drained all of my energy. In the month of December, I ran just 4x! And even that was a struggle.

January hasn’t been much better. Including today I’ve run 5x this month for a total of about 16 miles. I’ve kind of let myself off the hook here a little bit because it is “off” season but no more! This week is officially the start of my half-marathon training. This is where the motivation comes into play. I am NOT motivated at all to start my training and I know this has a lot to do with the last couple months of inactivity. When I’m running consistently, all I want to do is run. I am eager to get out on the road, to soak up the sunshine, to relish in some “me” time. It makes me feel good about myself. It keeps my stress level down. It keeps me motivated. But first, I have to get my butt out the door. 

Here are some tried and true methods that have worked for me when my motivation wans.

 

Find a catch phrase. Something short. Something snappy. Mine is “Don’t think. Just go.” This stops the negative barrage of excuses in my brain and reminds me to just go. Sometimes I don’t even go through my normal routine of prepping for a run. I throw on some clothes and shoes and I’m out the door. This shortens the time I have to sit there and decide that I’d rather just chill on my couch.

Remember the feeling AFTER the run. When I’m not very motivated to run, all I think about is the struggle. The huffing, the puffing, the soreness, the cramps, the weather, the hills. But I have NEVER hated the feeling I have after a run. Like I mentioned above, when the run is over I can feel good about myself and my stress level is down. Let me repeat…I have NEVER hated the feeling I have after a run. Not once. Not ever. NEVER.

Goals are good. I obviously have a long-term goal in mind….half-marathon in April. Then I will go straight into marathon training. But I need those short-term goals along the way to keep me motivated. Today my goal was just to get out the door. Now I can look to this weekend and see that I have a total of 9 miles to run (5 on Saturday, 4 on Sunday). I’ve purposefully planned my training for the next 3 months littered with hill repeats and tempo runs along the way to always give myself a short-term goal on the horizon. If you are not training for a particular race, vow to make it out the door X many days of the week or to run X number of miles in a month. When I first started my running journey, it was enough for me to tell myself just to get out and run once a week without a time or mileage goal in mind. Once I started doing that, the next goal fell into place.

Forget about weight loss. As I’ve mentioned, I have gained about 10 pounds in the last 2 months. But my goal is not weight loss. My running has NEVER been about weight loss. It’s about how it makes me feel and it’s about being healthy. Ironically I have had more weight loss success by NOT thinking about weight loss. When you have a goal that’s intrinsically motivated (better mood, lower stress, increased energy) you are more likely to succeed. That means lose the extrinsic goals such as, “I want to look good in a bikini.” Extrinsic goals are superficial and research has shown that these type of goals will often leave you feeling disappointed.

Have FUN! When I need to enhance my motivation or if I’ve hit a plateau in my progress, I switch things up a bit. Go run without music. Leave the gadgets behind. Run in the rain. Dance or sing during a run. Find a new route. Find a running partner. Challenge yourself with sprints or hills. Enjoy the scenery. Travel to a new location to run. Put on some new music. Listen to a funny podcast. Race someone. Reward yourself after a run.  

So I can attest to the fact that I these work. This morning I had little to no motivation to run and now, after my run, I am eager to get out and tackle my next goal! I will keep you updated on my half-marathon training as I go. Stay tuned!

Happy running!
Amanda