What to Do When You're In a Running Rut

As I write this, I am convincing myself to take my own advice. I am in, what seems to be, a running rut. I have been a runner for ten years now and it has been nonstop! I started running in 7th grade and once cross country was over, it was track season and once track was over, it was important to train over the summer for the next cross country season. It's pretty intense, time consuming and challenging at times. It is currently winter break for me and I am entering my last semester of my senior year as a collegiate athlete. The first three weeks of my break, I was doing great! I was running every day and following my coach's training plan for me over break. Then it took a turn when I went to Pennsylvania to visit my family for five days. I took all five days off because I was so busy visiting family every day all day that i didn't have time to run. The day I got back, I ran. Everything was good. Then the next few days I didn't. There were a lot of off days on my training calendar and I started feeling terrible about it, but I couldn't get myself to run! I was in a rut.

Taking a few days off for most people isn't a big deal, but to my coach, taking one week off is equivalent to a whole month of fitness. That's a HUGE deal! I wanted to run my best times this last track season especially since I suffered from a hip injury all last track season. So how am I working myself out of this rut? Here are some tips to follow:

1. Run with music. I usually don't run with music, but when I need some motivation, I need a peppy playlist to get me going.

2. Run with someone. Recruit running buddies on Facebook or call up old running teammates. I get my fiancé to time me during my track workouts to keep me motivated not to slack off in front of someone.

3. Reward yourself. Have something in mind you really want to buy or a meal you are craving? Maybe even your favorite candy bar? Tell yourself you will only get a reward if you complete your daily run. Or if you run every day this week, you will get that reward.

4. Encourage yourself. Write yourself little notes on sticky notes around your house/room/apartment to keep you motivated. Sounds corny and cheesy, but it can help some people a lot!

5. Sign up for races in advance. Sometimes, if I sign up for races months away, it keeps me motivated to run and train so I will run a good time and who knows, maybe you will win a prize!

6. Try cross training. Maybe you don't want to run today. Well try biking or hop on the elliptical. You could even take a few laps in the pool. Maybe if you don't feel like doing your full run today, do a shorter run or a different workout such as hills, sprints, or a fartlek workout. Just exercise somehow!

7. Challenge yourself. If you have a certain distance marked out, time yourself and make it your goal to beat the last time you ran. You could even set up a reward this way.

8. Join a group of runners. Look up online or on Facebook for running groups in your community. If you meet up with people to run, you are less likely to slack off when running or to just not run at all.

9. Set a time to run. Make a specific time to run every day and stick to that time. Maybe if that time doesn't work every day, make a schedule for a time that works for each day of the week.

10. Run somewhere new. Sometimes running in new places will allow you to explore and keep you interested while on your run.

If you're in a running rut, try some or even all of these tips and shake yourself out of your rut! Happy running : ]