Training

BEGINNERS: In Search of Motivation

August 4, 2009
By Deborah Wiles

Some of my best runs are at night. I bound up hills, tear around corners and hit 15K wanting more.

Sadly, those runs take place entirely in my head as I sit at the computer, mapping my route for the next day. When my alarm goes off in the morning, my excitement has been replaced by dread, my legs feel like lead and I text my partner with an excuse I hope doesn’t sounds too lame.

I am having a motivation crisis.

Every runner at some point suffers from a lack of desire. Work stress, personal problems, even weather, can play a role. Lack of motivation can keep runners on the couch for weeks or prevent a wannabe runner from starting.

So what’s a lapsed runner to do? Dig deep and remember these tips:

1) Know it happens to everyone. Realizing you’re not alone should take the pressure off.

2) Trick yourself into a run. John Stanton, founder of the Running Room, has said when he doesn’t feel like running, he uses this trick:  “I go out for 10 minutes; if I am still feeling punky, I turn around and come back because I probably am legitimately fatigued. The beauty is, you’ve got a 20-minute run in.”

3) Pick a route where there are other runners; watching them will make your legs itch to get going.

4) Even better, join a group. There are plenty out there for all fitness levels and paces. Nothing feels better than a bit of shared pain.

Use any trick that helps. Just know that, ultimately, motivation comes from one source only: you.  Motivation works like a backup power generator - when things are calm and sunny, you don’t need it as a source of energy, but when darkness rolls in and storm winds howl, you’re going to want to call on its strength. You’ve accumulated that strength during the times you’ve overcome a challenge - any challenge, not just running. Close your eyes, picture those triumphs and then head out the door for a run.

Finding that inner strength sometimes means truly understanding that going for a run is a privilege, not a right. A few months ago, I was complaining to my sister, a family doctor, that I didn’t want to run a half-marathon I had entered.

“I haven’t trained enough,” I whined. ” I am so slow, I will be last. It’s going to hurt. I don’t want to do it.”

“You have to do it,” she said in the tone she gets when she’s no longer speaking as a sister but as a weary doctor who has seen real misery and pain. “Do it for yourself. Do it for those who can’t. Do it,” she said, struggling to keep her composure, ”because you can.”

Deborah Wiles is a Halifax newspaper editor and freelance writer. When running past hospitals, she says a silent prayer for those inside.