10 tips on staying motivated when running
If you’ve got a marathon or another long-distance race on the horizon, you’ll almost certainly be following a training plan that will see you cover miles of ground every week for a few months. Whatever inspired you to start your training schedule in the first place, finding the motivation to go running can sometimes be tough for even the most dedicated runners.
If you’re struggling to make yourself lace up and head out the door, we’ve put together 10 motivation tips for runners of every level.
10 motivation tips for runners
If you’re in need of some running inspiration, read our 10 tips to give yourself the boost to head out and hit the pavements.
1. Run with friends or a group
There are few stronger motivations to go running than other people. Exercising with your friends or a running club is powerful for two reasons. First, if you’ve set a date to go running with a friend or group, you won’t want to let them down – so it’ll be a lot harder to talk yourself out of doing the run itself. Secondly, working out with other people can often push you to go further and work out harder once you’ve started. If you’re running with a couple of other people, it’s going to be a lot harder to quietly give up after 20 minutes!
2. Choose new routes
It can be incredibly monotonous doing the same route around your local park or running track over and again. To avoid this, try and mix up your runs by trying out new routes – treat the run as an adventure and a way of getting to know your local area better. You could study a map first and aim to run to a new landmark or park, or alternatively just head out with no plan at all. Using a running app to track your runs can help you ensure you’re still hitting your target distance.
3. Set yourself goals
If you are following a marathon training plan, you should already have a specific goal in mind for each week. Even if not, it’s a great idea to set yourself gradually increasing targets to reach a certain number of miles or aim to beat a certain time.
4. Reward yourself
Especially when training for a marathon, it’s a great idea to reward yourself with treat such as massages, sauna trips or even just a nice meal from time to time. If you promise yourself something good as long as you run X number of miles, you can push yourself to go further.
5. Try and mix up running types
Sick of plodding the same route around your park or neighbourhood? It’s time to mix things up. Try and include interval training, Yasso 800’s, sprints and other kinds of running workout. These not only make running more fun; they also build up different kinds of fitness.
You could also consider other kinds of exercise too – think HIIT workouts, swimming, cycling or some types of weight training. Besides beating monotony, this will help with marathon training by helping make you stronger and boosting your all-round fitness too.
6. Buy new running gear
What better motivation to go running than trying out your new clothing or accessories ? Buying new running gear is also a way of treating yourself – and can also make your run more productive by giving you more comfortable gear.
7. Log everything
There are few things more motivating than seeing how far you’ve come! By logging every run you’ve done – be that in a notebook, a spreadsheet or smartphone app – you can really see your progress. This can help you find your motivation again as you set yourself even more advanced goals.
8. Write a to do list for your day which includes the run
Many people find ‘to do’ lists especially motivating. Start your day writing down all the tasks you need to do on a piece of paper or on your phone. Include everything from commuting to work, to going to the shops to cooking dinner and, of course, fitting in your running training. There’s a big psychological boost from ticking off these tasks and it can be enough to motivate you to get the run done.
9. Listen to music
Various studies suggest that when runners listen to music, they can go further and they perceive the same exercise as less strenuous compared to when they listen to nothing. Pop your phone in an arm pouch, press play and power through your favourite tunes to keep running further.
10. Lay your clothes out the night before
If you wake up to find your running shoes , clothes and other gear laid out at the foot of your bed, it’s going to be harder to make excuses not to do your workout. So, some runners find it helpful to lay out their running clothes the night before they go running to give them that extra push.
We all need running inspiration from time to time, so by using ASICS’ motivation tips for runners, you’ll have that extra drive to lace up, stretch and head on out the door.