Tips to remain motivated!

Motivational levels come and go. Sometimes they’re high and it’s easy to get out the door while other times they’re low and it’s a real struggle. Here are some of my top tips to try to keep motivational levels nice and high whilst ensuring we’re training consistently and most importantly enjoying it.

Nothing is more motivational than when you know you have a race coming up. It’s often the difference between getting your run in, or putting it off for later. In many cases, later turns out to be never. It doesn’t need to be a target race. In actual fact, in many cases, it’s good to enter ‘out of season’ races where you know you’re not going to achieve a PB. They give you something to train towards. It’s always a good idea to target a handful of races where you are hoping to reach very high levels and hit target times, but it’s also a good idea to just take some races in your stride (excuse the pun). It’s impossible to peak all year round.

If entering a race scares you, I encourage you to do it. The worst thing that can happen is that you have a bad race. Even a bad race is a good result. It’s better than no race at all. Take the leap and enter that race!

You can learn a lot from others around you and it can also be very motivational training with a group rather than doing all your runs solo. Certain runs in a group are a lot easier. Things like track/interval sessions, tempo or hill sessions and especially longer runs. Doing these with people just makes time seems to fly by a whole lot quicker. When you do these sorts of runs by yourself, your mind often gets stuck at looking at distance and time, which tends to make these feel long.

People also hold you accountable. If you know you’re meeting someone for a run you’re far more likely to turn up. Once you’ve built these group runs into your weekly routine, that’s when you really start to become consistent and the results will show. It’s also a whole lot easier to suffer in a group rather than suffer alone. I know that in interval sessions where you’re pushing yourself completely out of your comfort zone, the fact that you sharing the work with others and know that they’re suffering just as much as you, if not even more, makes that feeling a little bit easier. If you don’t have a running club or any community near you, or simply would like to join the running club and community I started, Best Athletics, then you’re more than welcome! We have members all over the UK and the world. The vibes are great and we would love to have you. I’ve seen many runners join and the motivational levels go through the roof after seeing the encouragement and support the group gives you. The synergy that a good, encouraging running group can create is very powerful.

One thing I’ve come to learn over the years is that us runners love merchandise. We would rather sacrifice in so many other areas of our life just to get good running kit. Treat yourself and get something you really like. Whether it’s a pair of shoes, a watch or any other running kit, just do it. It doesn’t need to be something expensive and if you sacrifice little bits and pieces in other areas of your life to make this purchase, it will be 100% worth it trust me. I know as soon as I have new shoes, I really look forward to getting out to run in them. The same goes with new merchandise. You have to feel the part, to run the part and often a little treat to yourself is just what you need.

Coaches hold you accountable for your training. If you know you have a coach that’s checking up on your training regularly or a training app telling you what to do, you’re far more likely to get out for the run. It can also be very rewarding once you start seeing results from working with your coach. That, in itself, makes you want to get out the door. If you can’t afford a coach, there are various other options like following a training guide. You can get very low-cost training guides online. I’ve written a series of training guides which are available on Strava so if you’re not following any sort of plan then I highly encourage you to download one of these. They are targeted for the 5K, 10k, half marathon and marathon distance.

We’re all competitive, and competition within someone is a good thing but make sure you’re surrounding yourself with those like-minded runners who will bring out the absolute best in you. There’s running mates who are genuinely happy when you achieve a goal you’ve set out for yourself. They are the type of friends who encourage and support you within your training and racing and we should do the same for them. The sport is hard enough as it is sometimes so being kind to one another and bringing out the best in each other is exactly what we need.

These days, almost all athletes’ training goes on Strava. Find athletes who you look up to and motivate you. They can be professionals, sub-elites, runners faster than you or even runners slower than you. Whatever their pace, if their training motivates you, follow them. I know in my case, often I’ll follow fellow runners I look up to, see the training that they’re doing and it will cause curiosity and I’ll try and do that session myself or it’ll give me enough motivation to smash my session as I know they’ve got theirs in. That healthy competition between friends can often get you out the door once you know they’ve got the session in. Be sure to set yourself those weekly goals too.

I hope these tips can motivate you.
Let’s tackle the rest of this year right and continue it all the way through.
The hardest part is getting stuck in. Once you’re into routine it gets a whole lot easier. Together we grow.

Onwards and upwards,

Boom Shakalaka!

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