How to rediscover motivation for running: 5 key tips
Have you found yourself losing the passion for running that you once had? Maybe you've attempted a comeback but struggled to maintain consistency due to injury, family responsibilities, work stress, or even just the discomforts of winter weather. How to take up running in a way that enables you to train consistently from month to month and year after year? Here are five key tips to help you rediscover the motivation to run and stay committed to your running journey.
1. Find your "why"
As you start running, think of why you want to run. Your "why" will be your anchor through the ups and downs of training. Find a "why" that is a little out of reach, something that excites you and gives you a sense of purpose. While aiming for general health and fitness is a great cause, setting specific, measurable goals like completing a race or reaching a distance milestone or a certain time adds clarity and urgency to your mission.
This "why" will be your outcome goal. But once you've found one, you need to set process goals that help you move towards your "why". If the outcome goal is a vision, which may become a reality if you work hard and if stars align, then process goals are the actions that you need to take to make it happen and whether you complete them or not is directly under your control.
2. Start slowly
As you start running, you might be tempted to do too much too soon. Avoid diving headfirst into heavy training. If you jump from 0 to 4 runs a week, then it'll likely not work for long and even worse, cause various health issues. Once the body gets tired, it's easier to give up and find excuses why you cannot continue. Overexertion not only increases the risk of injury but also dampens long-term enthusiasm.
Instead, adopt a gradual approach, building your endurance through slow, really easy, enjoyable runs. Forget the pace or how it will look on Strava. Prioritise building your aerobic base through runs where you can easily chat with a friend without feeling out of breath and add walking, run-walking, hiking, or cycling to your routine. As we age, there is a natural decline in both muscle mass and bone density, so include strength training to reduce the likelihood of injury.
3. Focus on the process
I've often seen people give up on running because of their expectation for immediate results as a reward for all their hard work and if they cannot see it, they'll lose motivation to train. Patience is key in the journey to running. As any runner can tell you, even most runs start to feel comfortable only after the first few kilometers, once your body is properly warmed up.
The truth is, it takes time. Rather than fixating on the outcome, appreciate the journey and celebrate small victories along the way. Trust that progress occurs incrementally, with each run contributing to your overall fitness and moving you one step closer to your goal. Accept where you are, focus on "why" you are running and keep going. Results will follow when you fall in love with the process.
4. Stay accountable
Find a way how to hold yourself accountable. One of the best ways to do that is to keep a training log and that's why it's a common practice among the best athletes in the world. Even if you have a coach, writing down the distance covered, hours trained, your heart rate and how you felt on your runs, provides invaluable insights into your long-term progress and enables you to track your goals. Seeing your performance improve, will fuel your motivation to continue. You can keep a notebook or use a tool like KULG that generates the trends for you automatically.
KULG.io dashboard for runners
Additionally, find fellow runners that inspire you and that you can run together with. Their shared experiences, determination and encouragement can boost your motivation and keep you accountable. Other people often help you realise that your limitations are only in the mind and that with the right effort, you too can achieve your running goals and train consistently.
5. Find joy in the journey
Lastly, you will only keep running if you'll learn to truly enjoy it. While discipline plays a critical role in staying consistent, it won't work for long if you don't feel that you have a strong internal drive to keep running and if you haven't learned to love the process. Embrace the journey by exploring new running routes, prioritising runs that bring you joy, and seamlessly integrating running into activities that make you happy.
There will be days when you'll feel like skipping training and that's OK. Often it's a sign that you should take a rest. Your body becomes stronger not just through training but through adequate recovery. Each runner is unique and our adaptation to training differs. Learn to notice these signals and adjust accordingly. Do less if necessary but don't make missing your workouts a habit.
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Progress in running is not a straight path. Over the long haul, there will be periods of high motivation and times when getting out for a run feels like a struggle. Whenever I take a brief break from running at the end of a season, I always return to these steps: reflecting on my goals, easing back into training, adjusting my expectations, staying committed to my routine, and reminding myself to find joy in the process regardless of the outcome.
Maris is a marathon runner with 15+ years of experience from over 20 marathons, holding an age group Estonian marathon record. She is a certified running coach and the founder of kulg.io. You can also find her in Instagram with @projectrunbaby.
