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Motivation

2K views 18 replies 8 participants last post by  The Oracle 2012 
#1 ·
Ive been running for some time now, though I run for a reason, and some times I find it extremely hard to motivate myself, and end up not going for a run when I should.:confused:
And because I don't run for a club, it's harder.

I was wondering if anyone could help me with some motivational tips.
I would really appreciate it.

thanks:d
 
#7 ·
I don't run for a club because the local club doesn't have a junior section. and i can't make the sessions the second nearest club.

I have tried music while i run , but only on a treadmill. As i run outside for 95% of the time it doesn't really help as i need to listen for traffic and i find it generally uncomfortable.
 
#8 ·
Steepler, you sound like my Dad. He loves running and is also. like me trying to make the England cross country team this year.
I run because i like to acheive, i think there are more reason to running than just . If you like it. I am training at the moment, for other sports not running. So even if i decided i don't like running i need to keep getting fitter in order to acheive in other sports too not just running.

Thanks for the help guys!:d
 
#9 ·
I used to struggle with motivation occasionally and procrastinated over many runs, especially in bad weather.

However... I will NEVER do that again. The reason is that I was struck with injury duing a 20 mile race in April and after loads of physio, MRI scan, exercises etc I am only just now struggling my way back. I am only allowed to run twice a week at this stage and then just 3 or 4 miles.

I have had to withdraw from 11 races of between half marathon, marathon and ultra distance and I've been through a really low time with this. So I will never take running for granted again.

If you are struggling with motivation, all you have to do is imagine not being able to run at all... be grateful that you can and just get out that door
 
#10 ·
thanks thats a really great help. i have only had one injury, where i was off all sport for about 4 weeks. I hated it . it killed me to think that i could be playing hockey and things wen others wer and i just couldnt it was so boring just to do nothing.
so i know hat you mean.
thanks.
 
#13 ·
steepler said:
Sorry to hear you are still injured Trinity!
It only seems like yesterday when I saw you at the FLM expo.
Get out there soon my friend!
Good luck

Thanks Steepler
I am happy to report that I had my comeback race this evening... over 4 and a half months since my last race when I got injured.
It was so good to be back out there with a number pinned to my club vest.

I did ask my physio last week if I could take part in the race, which was the Torbay Regatta 10k.
He said yes, so long as I didn't 'race' it and just treated it like a training run.

But do you know how hard it is to not race...when you're in race conditions!

Well, my first mile was 7.01, and the rest kind of continued that way until 5 miles when I felt the first twinge in my injured (but recovering) leg. So I slowed right down, which was not at all easy when most of the last mile and a bit was downhill, plus as we were getting close to the finish everyone was pushing hard and flying past me :confused:

Anyway, I finished with 48.33, which is just 5 minutes slower than my PB that I set in January this year, so I'm ok with that.

All I have to do now is report in to my physio tomorrow and try and tell him that I wasn't 'racing' :rolleyes:
 
#15 ·
Hollywood said:
Welcome back Trinity :)

I hope you had a huge smile on your face for the whole 10km!

:) Thanks Hollywood, it was strange because I felt that 'beginner type nervousness' at the start, something I hadn't felt for a very long time. But once we was off it just felt so good to be in a race, rather than standing on the sidelines cursing my injury.

However my physio has now said that he doesn't want me racing again for the rest of this year and I'm back to running 3 or 4 miles twice a week.

I've been entered into the Miami marathon, which is in January, since before this injury happened and now I'm concerned that I won't be able to get enough training miles in, especially as I'm building up from practically nothing.
 
#16 ·
Destiny on RW ran Miami and said she loved it - but then she was always cold in London... she also claimed to do Miami off pretty much no training... yeah, right...

Good luck with getting back into it - I'm sure you'll be fine. Talked briefly to Spans on Sunday - she's also out of training injured but she seems to have taken the attitude that if she's only allowed to run every so often then those runs may as well be races!

Enjoy being back! See you again at the races real soon.
 
#17 ·
I have found signing up for a half marathon good motivation! The longest distance I did before that was 10k so I knew I really had my work cut out for me to make it 13.1 miles. That in itself is motivation but I also psyche myself up a little in other ways by thinking about the following things:
1) How good I will feel when I get back!
2) How good I could potentially feel on the run, if I get into a 'flow'
3) Losing excess weight and shaping up generally
4) Improving on times and/or distances from last week
5) Getting some fresh air and seeing some nature if you've been stuck inside at work/school all day.
6) Feeling proud when you jog/run past other people (I always remember being very envious and admiring of joggers when I wasn't one.)
7) Thinking about improving over a long term and how much you could achieve in 3 months/6 months/a year/5 years if you stick with it and get better and better.

I have been reading recently about sports psychology and the difference in 'association' and 'disassociation' when training and when competing - have a look on the web for some articles. If you don't want to listen to music while you train, you can 'disassociate' in other ways by doing some mind games like counting games (counting cats, or red cars....etc) or alphabet games (think of women's names from a-z, or tv programmes etc) or thinking of as many countries, US states, etc as you can - stuff like that. Or you could try having a song in your head!

The best piece of advise I think though is if you're going through that "I should go for a run but I really don't want to..." dance in your head and there's no physical reason why you can't go, JUST GO, DON'T THINK ABOUT IT AND GO! Like most things in life, 9 times out of 10, its the apprehension and thought of an event that's worse than the actual thing itself. If you get out there and your heart (or your legs) isn't in it, then you can always go home again but if you try for 10 minutes your physiological reactions will usually take over and you'll want to carry on.

Good luck! :)
 
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