10 More tips to motivate you to run
You have many reasons for losing motivation to go on a run or workout. But we can top 'em with tips, inspiring quotes, and more. Last week, we shared our first ten tips. Here are ten more motivations to run. Pick your fix. Repeat as necessary.
1. MAMA, GET A NEW PAIR OF SHOES. Two-time Olympian Shayne Culpepper puts new gear she receives as an elite athlete to good use. "It's fun to break in a new pair of shoes," she says. "Sometimes that's enough to get me excited."
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2. PLAY IN THE STREET. Skip a dreaded track workout for a fartlek (Swedish for "speed play") session. After 10 minutes of easy jogging, run hard between two telephone poles, then slow down until you pass three. Then see if you can get to the traffic light before it changes, followed by a jog to the next mailbox. There are no set rules, so make it up as you go along.
3. JUST START. If the thought of running your full workout is too much to bear, just suit up to run around the block. Chances are, once you're outside, you'll start to feel better and put in at least a few miles.
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4. THINK FAST. The runners Christy Coughlin coaches in Wilmette, Illinois, always get a boost from this simple negative-splits workout: Run for 20 minutes as slowly as you want, then turn around and run home faster. "The long warmup helps you feel great and run faster on the way back," says Coughlin.
5. RUN AN ERRAND--LITERALLY. Run to get cash at the ATM, buy that lottery ticket for the mega-million-dollar prize, or return the DVD to the rental store.
6. GOOD-TO-GO PLAYLIST. Add these songs on your iPod :
Classic Rock
"Don't Stop Me Now," Queen
"Break on Through," The Doors
"Gimme Shelter," Rolling Stones
"Come Together" the Beatles
"What Do You Do for Money Honey," AC/DC
Country
"Cocaine Blues," Johnny Cash
"Ain't Going Down (Til the Sun Comes Up)," Garth Brooks
"Wide Open Spaces," Dixie Chicks
"Chasin' That Neon Rainbow," Alan Jackson
"The Devil Went Down to Georgia," The Charlie Daniels Band
Hip-Hop
"If I Should Die," Jay-Z
"Get By," Talib Kweli
"Let's Get Retarded," Blackeyed peas
"Lose Yourself," Eminem
"Bombs Over Baghdad," Outkast
"Get Low," Lil' Lon
"Caught Out There," Kelis
Alternative Rock
"Beautiful Day," U2
"Run in Place," The Nadas
"Seven Nation Army," The White Stripes
"Take Me Out," Franz Ferdinand
"Get Free," The Vines
"Just (You Do It to Yourself)," Radiohead
Guilty Pleasures
"Good Vibrations," Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch
"Toxic," Britney Spears
"Lovefool," The Cardigans
"Flagpole Sitta," Harvey Danger
"Fergalicious," Fergie
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7. FORGET TIME. Shane Bogan, who coaches distance runners in the Washington, D.C./Baltimore area, advises leaving your watch at home once in a while. "It's liberating not to be worried about pace," Bogan says.
8. LISTENING TO YOUR FEET crunch gravel for an hour can erase a day's worth of stress.
9. DON'T EXPECT EVERY DAY TO BE BETTER than the last. Some days will be slower than others, and some days might even hurt a bit. But as long as you're on the road, it's a good day.
10. REMEMBER that you almost always feel better after a run than before it.
LET US HELP. We've got more where these came from. To receive a daily motivational e-mail, go to runnersworld.com/motivate
Tell us: What helps you when you're in a running or workout slump?
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