If you are training for middle or long-distance running, you may find it tough to get motivated to go running. That’s why it is important to have a running plan and to make running a part of your lifestyle.
If it feels like a chore, it will be a chore. And even though you might force yourself to go running in the beginning. Eventually, it will become boring and you won’t have the motivation to run in the future.
So there are a few ways you can push yourself to run so you maintain your running consistency.
Set a long-term running goal.
You must set a goal that you want to achieve with your running. This will motivate you to work towards your goal regardless of the circumstance that you are in. Whether there is poor weather, or you aren’t feeling in the mood to run, the goal will set your plan of action for running.
You will know what reward you will get at the end of the goal as well.
Set a distance goal.
This is one of the easiest things you can do. And you should increase it progressively. Start with a simple goal of 1km, which might take you up to 10 minutes to complete when you are beginning. And then continue to increase the distance to 2km, 3km, 4km, etc.
Your only goal at that stage will be to complete the required progressive distance.
You can do this 5 days a week and repeat the cycle for a month. You can also track your time and see how you progress with your running time.
Set a time goal.
With the time goal, your only objective is to keep on running a set amount of time. Don’t focus on anything other than putting one foot in front of the other and to keep on running for the set amount of time. Run fast, run slow, or do a mix of both. But DO NOT STOP MOVING while you are running for your time goal.
Track your running interval pace.
Set micro-goals during your running. You can set goals to run at a certain pace during your run. This might be 5 minutes per km, 6 minutes per kilometre, etc.
You will find that you are running with a much higher intensity.
Track your heart rate.
Set a heart rate goal to know that you are improving your cardiovascular endurance. You may set the first week’s goal to run with an average heart rate of 130bpm. Then increase it by 10bpm each week until you get to 80% or more of your maximum bpm.
You can then see how long you can hold this heart rate for when you run.
Ideally, you want to hold this heart rate for longer than your target running distance. 30-60 minutes is ideal.
Make your run a social activity.
Running won’t feel like a chore if you are having fun. And one of the easiest ways to make it feel like fun is if it is done as a social activity.
Run with friends, family, colleagues from work, and even running communities. If you have running apps, you can even compete against others that are doing runs to see where you rank on the ladder.
There’s also running groups like ParkRun, which is free.
You can also nominate yourself to participate in runs for festivals and charity events.
