Help! Graduates - I need motivating!

[Helen3boys]

I finished C25K a couple of weeks ago and am not running 5k yet. I have been trying to up the time every few runs so that I am running further, but today I just felt like I'd hit a motivational wall. I am getting bored with my route, but haven't really attempted hills yet and everywhere else is a bit too hilly for my liking. I know I need to run further away from home, but each time I get to the spot where I usually turn back on myself to go home, I just can't get past it. I know it's psychological but I am really struggling. I am doing the race for life at the end of May and I really want to run it. Does anyone have any tips for me? Should I go for shorter runs and start trying hills so that I can go other places? Or should I just push through the psychological barrier and make myself run further when all I want to do is run home?!

[didntrunthat Graduate]

Hi Helen,

You need to beat those demons before moving on to the next challenge, it is possible! If you are bored of your route something like a small change might sound silly but has worked for me before - try running it in reverse, I do that when I'm feeling fed up and seems to keep the brain keep a bit more focused on the challenge ahead.

It can be tough without the pod casts - how much time have you built on? I have not done this myself, but others have done their warm up walk, then turned on the podcast with laura when she is only starting the warm up walk, but use that as the beginning of their run so they still have that extra bit of motivation through their run to keep them going. With the warm up and cool down added on as running time that could help build up for 40 mins running time.

I did race for life last year and had only ran 5k once before as I had just finished C25k - you have plenty of time between now and May to get there

[Helen3boys]

Last week I was running 33 - 34 minutes. Today I only managed 32 minutes. It just seems to be an impossible barrier!

[CaroB Graduate]

Hi Helen,

you have my sympathy, I am also finding it hard to stay motivated and I only completed the C25K on Friday! Unfortunately some days are just tough but they won't all be. Focus on how proud of yourself you are going to be when you complete the race for life in May. You can feel all the prouder for knowing you have overcome obstacles along the way. The advice from didntrunthat sounds good to me. I extended my run by 5 mins today by carrying on through the warm down walk section, the music in this section is quite soothing to run to so I just plodded on and even though the whole run was a lot slower today I still ran for further. Keep smiling you can definitely do it, just look what tremendous progress you have already made!

[Helen3boys]

I had given up on the podcasts because I was desperate to use my own music. I have made myself a playlist which I really like. I like the sound of doing the route backwards, that's a good idea. Will be trying again on Thursday!

[Hidden]

Have you considered a Park Run? You get company running and a lot of people have mentioned they upped their pace when they did it. It might break the mental barrier of 30 mins for you.

[Deryn61 Graduate]

I was going to suggest Parkrun too, a great place to start, very welcoming to newbies in my opinion (I was a newbie till last Sat!). Or try and find a running club/buddy in your area?

Dont be afraid of hills, you can always run uphill for a minute or two to start (it doesnt matter how slow, take small steps and count to 50, works for me!) and then run as fast as you can down (shouting "weeeeeeeh" like a big kid if you want!) and then back up. See how many times you can do this and then try going up for longer the next week or doing more repetitions?

[Greg_M Graduate]

Make us a list here of what it is you like about running and why you did it.

[ribena-berry Graduate]

Have you tried making a playlist of 33mins-ish with your favourite two songs at the end. This really works for me as I don't want to give up while they're playing!

Also if you use an app like Endomondo, you can check distance, time, speed, hills etc and it stores all the info in neat little graphs and bar charts, which really helps spur me on as I always match or beat last week's run time. (Although it may just be the geek in me that gets excited by this!)

[juicydee Graduate]

Oh ribena-berry, I really like the playlist idea! I've already started to jot down what I might put on mine, but keeping the best ones to the end is pure genius!! Thanks so much!

[ribena-berry Graduate in reply to juicydee]

No worries! Hope it helps!

[Helen3boys]

Thank you so much for all your ideas. I am going to do my route backwards tomorrow and see if that makes a difference to my psychological barrier of round a corner and thinking I should be going home!

Greg - Here is my list of why I started...

To lose weight (and I have and still am)

To be more active so I can run around with my 3 boys

To do the Race for Life because my Dad is going through treatment for cancer at the moment.

To become healthier so that when I am a Grandma (a long way off, hopefully, but it's best to plan!) I can still be active with my grandchildren.

I will think about this list tomorrow when I am doing my next run. Quite apprehensive after last time - especially as my husband who is a sporadic runner has now taken up the challenge to beat me and is already running 5k after just a few tries.

Thanks - will let you know how I get on...

[mgnmum Graduate]

definitely change your route, can you do a route that doesn't involve turning around and coming back the same way? I always try and map out the route I am going to take before hand so you know the distance you are going to cover, if it is a circular route you have no choice but to get back home, also the end is far more motivating than a half way point. Also dont worry about maybe driving a little way to do your run. I started out by driving just 3/4 mile away because i couldnt face the run up hill back home.