I read a Twitter-linked article from the Virgin London Marathon suggesting ways to stay motivated. Here are some additional tried and true tips that have worked for me:
- Get out early: The longer I go in the morning between waking up and getting out the door, the more excuses I can come up with. I’m tired, I can’t find my headlamp, I have work to do, I need a cup of coffee… Key here is to get everything ready to go before I go to sleep, get dressed in my running gear right away and get outside before my body and brain have a chance to process what’s going on. It seems silly, but it works. If I sit in front of the computer with a cup of tea or coffee, I’m toast.
- Only commit to a mile: On days I don’t feel like running, I just commit to running one mile. If, after a mile, I feel like packing it up and heading home, I have given myself the leeway to do that. I’ve only actually stopped once. The other times, I either start to feel better as I get closer to that milestone or I’ve convinced myself that “I’ve already come this far, might as well finish up.”
- Rock the playlist: I’m a solitary runner, but I need the playlist. Even with hundreds of songs on my wrist, it does get old after a while. I mix up the list every few weeks and find that key start-up song that gets me going. That song starts before my first step. Works nearly every time.
- Be public: Post your goals. Post your workout schedule for the week. Post your race target. Public shaming works. Use it to your advantage.
- Set two or three different goals: While goal-setting is on the VLM list, I always have two (or three) goals running at any one time. One is always the target marathon time; that’s the long-term one. I also aim for a certain mileage per month–currently 100-110 miles on the road and 200 miles on the bike. Finally, I have a streak going of 42 straight days of working out. My goal is 100–pretty much taking me to my next Marathon in April. I DO NOT WANT TO BREAK THIS STREAK. It keeps me going.