Running For Life - How To Retain Your Enthusiasm

Is it hard work to keep your training going? Is there always something more important to do? Is the weather never "just right"? Do you have too little time? Or too little energy? Are you great at coming up with excuses not to get out and run? That happens to the best of us at certain times so what can be done to retain your enthusiasm?

Maintain a running log
A training log can offer strong motivation to keep running. You can map out your routes and log all your training sessions. It is great to see hard evidence that your speed and fitness are going up while your times and weight are coming down. Better still is to see those personal bests being broken! Over a period of time you'll see which sectors you run well and which you don't. Work on those slower sectors and you'll see your performance improve.

Use different routes
Running the same routes time after time can be boring and make you complacent. Rekindle your enthusiasm by trying different distances on different terrain. Don't choose the same old route and distance time after time. Run different distances on different terrain. Vary the scenery that you see.

Enter a race
There is nothing like signing up for a race to get you out training. Set yourself a target of racing 2, 3 or even 6 months down the line and work towards that race. Break up your training with other races too. If you are aiming to run a half marathon, schedule a 10k. If you've never been in a race before try one of the big city events where you'll be wowed by the whole experience. Enter races in places you've never visited but have always wished to see – make a weekend of it! Be inspired by running near a river, through woods or past magnificent buildings.

Run with friends
Get out there and run with a friend or group of friends. You can help each other to keep going when you hit that bad mile which we are all prone to. On long runs control your pace by going no faster than the speed at which you can maintain a conversation. The idea is to train not run flat out all the time! Of course running with a partner is likely to encourage you to get out even when you are looking for excuses not to run. You won't want to let down your friends.

Have fun and keep on running!

By: John Twage

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John Twage sport4me.com – the training log that calculates your fitness factor for virtual race challenges