Whether you’re were just thinking about going for a run, about to put on your shoes for a run, or you’re in the middle of a run session; a thought can creep in telling you not to go or just stop. And this thought doesn’t match your running goal for the day.
Baring any injury or medical emergency, how do we stay motivated to keep running when all we wanna do is quit?
My simple answer and solution to this question is: “Do it when you don’t feel like it.”
The moment that I do something that I have set out as a goal I feel like I have given myself a little gift or a small win. That feeling can fuel my motivation for my day, week, or month. And that feeling is amazing. But, when I accomplish my goal during a time that I don’t feel like accomplishing my goal, I get what feels like an exponential boost in motivation to achieve my larger goal. Whether that be a race or a fitness measurement.
Take it step by step
It’s always easy to believe that we can be the best at everything right away. But, we have to remember that everything takes time to get better.
My first recommendation is to remove the idea that you have to be perfect.
I grew up being a perfectionist. Everything I did had to be perfect I didn’t wanna do it. This is the worst type of mindset to have when you want to be a runner.
There are very few occasions where everything goes perfectly on a run. A shoelace can come undone. You can roll your ankle. It can start raining and your socks get so wet it feels like your trudging through the mud.
When friends of mine asked me how do I stay motivated to keep running when I want to quit, I tell them that I run slowly and I think about how I feel after I’m finished.
When you don’t want to get outta bed
- When I don’t want to get out of bed or off my couch and go for a run, I simply stop thinking and get up out of the bed or get off the couch. Then, I will say, “Good job!”
- Next, I will take off my clothes and put on my running stuff. Then, I will say, “Good job!”
- Finally, I will put on my shoes and walk out the door. Then, I will say, “Good job!”
I know it sounds a little bit hokey to tell yourself ‘good job’ out loud. But, there is well founded research that shows this can help you form a habit more quickly by simply telling yourself that you did it good job after you’ve accomplished what you set out to do.
When you’re in the middle of a running workout and you just want to quit
Sometimes when we are on a distance run we just are having a bad day and we want to quit. There can be many reasons for this. But, it usually comes down to how we are feeling or something that’s on our mind that is bothering us.
Another time that we may want to give up in the middle of a run is during a speed tempo run or interval training. Interval training is the time that I have quite a few negative thoughts telling me to stop because I’m in so much pain.
Here is what I do to get through those times.
- Don’t fight the negative thought. Let it pass. Oftentimes, I think it’s gonna keep going on until the end of the run or the interval. It always dissipates. But, you have to let it be.
- Tell yourself, “Thank you!” I know it seems strange too thank yourself for having a negative thought. I believe it’s just a way for your body to let your mind know it is under stress and wants to stop. But you have to be confident that this is just a thought. There is no real threat. It’s just that our bodies kind of like to be comfortable as much as possible.
- Embrace the pain and embrace the thoughts. Don’t try to change the thought that is with you when you are in pain or want to quit. I say this with a caveat. Some pain does need medical attention. If it’s excruciating or a pain in the part of your body that you don’t normally experience when running seek medical attention or a medical professional. But aside from any serious or potentially long term medical issues, just let your mind think would it’s going to think and keep going. This will give you the greatest power over those thoughts. And you will learn to embrace them and then eventually they will stop affecting your motivation.
Now that we’ve talked about ways that you can overcome very common motivational obstacles, we can move on to ways that you can help your mindset before you even get a negative thought about achieving your goals for running.
Positive self-talk
When I was in high school, I went to a running camp in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Yes, it was a bit nerdy. But I learned so much about a lot of the other aspects of running that are not readily apparent.
The camp was set up so that we had daily seminars that we could attend. This was one of my favorite parts of the running camp. There were a few sessions about breathing work. There were some about relaxation and meditation. And then there were some that included actually going on a run with the instructor. My running coach for the camp was a collegiate athlete who taught us about having positive self talk when we are about to go on a run or are running.
The idea of self talk is very simple. You talk to yourself. But, you do it in a way that it is almost like a mantra. You say something positive to that will help keep you going. You say the same saying over and over again.
One example that I used quite often during races was, “One leg in front of the other.” I loved using this one, because it helped me to stay focused on just performing one literal step at a time. If I focused on that, then I would not really have time to think about all of the negative emotions that might come over me when my chest was burning and my legs were on fire.
I like to think of positive self talk as a preventative of negative emotions and thoughts that can come up when we run. Because you’re focusing on the positive it makes it easier to keep going. Some other things that you can say are:
“You are doing a good job”
“Think about the results”
“You can do this”
“Just keep going”
I believe that positive self talk is one of the most important things that you can do as a runner. Running can take a lot out of your body. And your body can respond in a way that you may not want it to. But, we create a hack to get through this when we use positive self talk.
But let’s be honest, sometimes it’s not easy to be positive all the time. Sometimes, we just need to embrace the suck. And we can remember that after we have finished, we will probably feel much better.
Think about how you will feel after you have finished
Focusing on how I go feel when I’m finished doing what I’m doing has helped me to form and maintain habits that I never thought it could be able to do. I like to think of myself as a carnivore. I love meat. I used to eat it for breakfast lunch and dinner. But, I have been a vegetarian for a year and a half at the time of writing this article. I haven’t even cheated once.
And to be perfectly clear, I still crave meat. When I go out to eat with my friends I look at there steaks and hamburgers and wish I could enjoy it with him. but after I’ve eaten my veggies and my belly is full, my desire to eat meat goes away. And then I remember how I feel after I’ve only eaten vegetables. And this is what keeps me going for the next meal.
Focusing on how I feel when I finish my run or swim or bike, keeps me grounded. I try to remember that I am a human. I am not a machine. So, I have to balance my rational brain with my 90% emotional body and mind.
I try to be grateful for the moments that are enjoyable when I’m running. But I find that maintaining my endurance to keep going when I want to quit is all about focusing on how I feel after I’m finished.
If I know that I’ll feel better after performing any exercise I’m more likely to finish it. I believe that that is how most of us operate.
We have feelings.
Those feelings are important to us.
We need to embrace those feelings and value them. So I think it’s good for all of this to value and encourage thinking about how good we feel after we’ve done anything. And this certainly applies to running.
Be kind to yourself
There are days when we just don’t do what we’ve set out to do. We don’t do the run that we planned. We don’t finish the workout as well as we wanted to. Or maybe we even skip a whole week because we’re not motivated. And I’m here to tell you that that is OK.
You are not a robot.
We are all human and we make choices that aren’t always the best for us at that moment. Be kind to yourself. Be kind to yourself by letting yourself know that it’s OK.
To give you a personal example, I missed out on two of my scheduled workouts this week. I am on a 6 day per week training schedule. It includes 3 runs sessions, 3/4 bike sessions, and 2/3 swim sessions. I did not have a good excuse for missing those two days. I was a little tired and the weather wasn’t great. But it was not a good excuse for missing out on my workouts.
Now this is something that rarely happens for me. So, I chalk it up to a fluke. And I tell myself that I am still doing great. And I will still be able to accomplish my goal even though I missed two sessions. I am human.
Always remember to be kind to yourself.
Running is fun
Always remember that we should run because we enjoy it. Even if we only enjoy it a little, we can focus on the joy we get from running.
I hope you have a wonderful day. Please let me know if this article helped you stay motivated on a day you didn’t want to go for a run.