The Antidote for Lack of Motivation

"Is it bad if I miss a run?"

"How many training runs can I miss?"

"How long before I lose fitness missing runs?"

If you looked in my search history, you would definitely find these questions (and several others on the same topics).

There are some days (okay...many days), when I can come up with so many reasons not to run. My bed is warm and cozy; the dog is curled up next to me; I have an early meeting; it's too hot; it's too cold; it's raining. The list goes on!

Hard to be motivated with this cuteness happening!

When the excuses pile up, and you don't feel like running, it can be really hard to get motivated to get up and get moving.

But why is it so hard to stay motivated?

Motivation is what gets us started. It is temporary, fleeting, and highly impacted by our environment. I think about times when I have been highly motivated to make different eating choices. Then my kids come home, open up my kryptonite (potato chips and Helluva french onion dip) and motivation goes out the window. Without even realizing it, I am couch surfing and downing those chips and dip like I haven't eaten in days.

It's the same with running. You might be highly motivated to get out the door and run, and may have even signed up for a race. But when you are waking up in the wee hours of the morning, everyone else in your household is still asleep, and it's too _________ (fill in the blank) outside, it's super hard to remember why you started running in the first place.

So what is the antidote for lack of motivation?

Because we cannot always control our environment (I mean, maybe I could just not buy the chips and dip), and because motivation is impacted by what's happening around us, we have to find another way to achieve our goals. In walks discipline.

Discipline helps us form habits and is a tool we can use to make the choices necessary to achieving our goals, even when we don't feel like it.

Easier said than done? Absolutely! But over the years, I have found some ways that keep me focused and putting the miles in, even when it is hard!

1.Set Realistic Goals

Not to be cliched ... but what's the best way to eat an elephant? I have never eaten elephant, but if I were going to, I would definitely have to take one bite at a time. The same is true for running (and really anything else in life). Start with a short distance as your first goal (1 mile, a 5k) and also don't think you are doing it wrong if you are running slow (or doing the run/walk method). If you are running, you are a runner! And no matter how far you go or how long it takes you, you lapped everyone on the couch! Good for you! 

Have you been running, but are trying to find motivation again? One thing that really helps me is to sign up for a race (a good number of weeks away so I can make a plan - see number 2 below) or when I haven't been training, I have done low-heart-rate method (more to come on that in future posts). Low-heart-rate method gives me a different focal point for my run than just the miles to go, and forces me to slow down which can be quite enjoyable. (Curious about Low-Heart-Rate? Stay tuned for updates soon!)

2. Make a Plan

This is key to success for me. Once I have decided on my goal, I make a week by week running plan. I write it down on a hand-made grid (yes, old school!), and then I put the time on my calendar for when I will complete my runs. Do things sometimes have to shift? Yes, but if I hold the time and treat it as sacred, I am much more likely to get it done! 

One important note is to make sure your plan is realistic. Just like setting realistic goals, you have to have a realistic plan for your schedule. When I trained for the Big Sur Marathon, I made a plan that had me running five days per week. I was also running for a newly drawn House district in the NC House of Representatives and had a primary. After two weeks of trying to run five days a week, campaign, and do my CEO job, I realized that I was not going to be able to sustain that. I shifted my plan to four days a week and adjusted my finish time goals.

3. Give Yourself Grace

You will not be able to follow your plan 100% exactly. There will be days that you do not feel like it. That's okay. Rather than lean into the excuses, remind yourself that it's totally okay to just not feel like it. I often find when I remember that it's not the excuses, it's just that I don't feel like it, I can remind myself there are MANY things I don't feel like doing, but I have to do them anyway. It then becomes easier to just suck it up and get out the door (perhaps reluctantly, but always feeling grateful and accomlished afterwards).

And if you decide that you just don't feel like it and need a day to reset, it really is okay. Missing one day isn't going to ruin your training plan, especially if it helps get you mentally back on track with your schedule. It's one day, in one week of your plan. Take your day and then get back to it.