How to Stay Motivated with Running…or other Fitness Goals. Many of us made some new fitness goals for the New Year, including running or a goal race during the year. Here are a few tips to keep you motivated:
Schedule your workouts
Take a look at your week and make a plan. If you can, choose days and times that not only fit into your schedule but when your energy is at its best. Be specific by scheduling the time it normally would take to complete the run or workout and block your calendar.
Treat this as you would any other appointment. You wouldn’t likely cancel a doctor’s appointment last minute; so treat your workouts with the same respect. This is an appointment with yourself, for yourself!
Keep a running or fitness diary
Take notes on how you felt during your workout, pace or new PR’s, and so forth. After a great workout make a note about how good you felt after that run or that particular workout–it might help give you motivation in the future. Also, looking back on where you were when you started will give you motivation to keep going.
Find a positive reinforcement
Achieving goals feels awesome, but sometimes we just need something to get us started. Find a really good Podcast, an audiobook, or upbeat music. I always looked forward to my long run days when I had a really riveting audiobook.
Treat yourself to a new running shirt, socks, or headphones when you’ve achieved a specific goal (hitting a new PR, etc). Try to not do this often, and definitely try to not use food as a reward.
Just get started!
We all have days that we just aren’t feeling it. Unless you are sick or maybe haven’t given yourself a rest day that week, the best advice I have is…just do it! Once you get through the first 5-10 minutes of a warm up you’ll be ready to go, and you’ll probably feel a whole lot better than before you started.
“I run because if I didn’t, I’d be sluggish and glum and spend too much time on the couch. I run to breathe the fresh air. I run to explore. I run to escape the ordinary. I run…to savor the trip along the way. Life becomes a little more vibrant, a little more intense. I like that.”
– Dean Karnazes
“Ask nothing from your running…and you’ll get more than you ever imagined.”
– Christopher McDougall
Emily Hershberger
UESCA Certified Running Coach
