Motivation to Run: What is Your Purpose for Running?

The most powerful purposes are ones that are intrinsic (you want to do it, rather than someone is making you or pressuring you to) or ones that positively impact others. Remind yourself what your purpose is. There can be more than one. It can be as simple as saying “I want to test my limits”. If that purpose isn’t enough for you, maybe see if there’s a way to raise money for a charity you feel strongly about. Attach your training (not just race day) to that cause too (maybe 50cent for each mile you run, or a dollar for a lap of the track you run on Tuesdays etc.). The key is to find your motivation to run and tap into that more frequently.

Accountability

Write your goal and purpose up somewhere where you can see it everyday. Let some people close to you (or everyone, if you are comfortable with it) know about  your goal and purpose. This gives others the opportunity to join you on your journey, maybe give you that pep talk you need, or get you excited just to talk about your running again (because we all love to talk about our training).

Routine

When we skip a few runs, it’s easy for your training to quickly slide away and before it is completely derailed. Try to stick to a routine that works for you. If you keep missing that 5th run of the week, then just focus on 4 and get all 4 done with quality and consistency. If you miss runs because the dya catches up with you, focus on getting out in the mornings and make that a weekly routine (i.e. every Tuesday and Thursday I will run at 6am).

Grace

As always, never forget how far you have come and show yourself some appreciation. You are going further than 99% of the other people out there right now and on the way to achieving something others can only dream about experiencing!