Run when you don’t want to!

We’ve all been there.

Some days you just don’t feel like going for a run. It happens.

A rest day from running is often necessary, especially if you are fatigued or not feeling 100% physically. It is important to listen to your body, and in fact, running when you are carrying some kind of discomfort can actually do you more harm than good.

But, these factors shouldn’t come under the same umbrella as motivation.

Ask yourself, what’s the reason why I’m putting off going for my run today? If there isn’t one – resist the urge to ditch the trainers and instead go and grab them.

Enthusiasm levels can ebb and flow but breaking through that slack barrier will ensure you go for your run and feel good after.

Here, are a few quickfire pointers to help:

1. Run with a buddy. Jogging with a friend or running club automatically boosts your motivation levels and makes it harder for you to skip a session and make excuses, especially when it is already slated into your diary.
2. Track your overall progress. Record your run, log your data and look back at it. It can be very rewarding analysing your mileage and noticing steady improvements. By getting the bug for stats, you’ll just want to keep going.
3. Plan your day around your run. We all have plenty of other commitments nowadays but look ahead and think when you’re going to be running. This means you can plan accordingly, eat at the right times and base your schedule around it.
4. Set yourself goals or have a race to target. There is no better motivating factor than knowing you are preparing for a big race. This will help you run through the pain threshold, especially on those cold nights and rainy mornings. Ask yourself at the startline come race day: ‘Am I prepared as well as I possibly can be?’. If the answer to that is ‘yes’, then you’ve done your job!
5. Can you top the post-run feeling? Probably not. You always feel great after a run and are glad that you did it, even if it wasn’t your best ever. Letting off those endorphins will always give you a buzz!