Don’t Run Because you Have to, Run Because you Love It.

Do you hate running? You tell yourself every night you’re going to wake up early in the morning and get a productive start on your morning by taking a run through town but then your alarm goes off and you groan and snooze it. You keep doing this until you finally say, “i’ll just start tomorrow” and so begins a continuous cycle.

I used to hate running, and this is exactly how every morning looked for me. I knew things weren’t going to change if I didn’t do something about it, so I looked for things that would make me look forward to running. The very first day I successfully got out of bed to go on a run, I had a new, upbeat, motivating song playlist waiting for me to listen to. I don’t know about you, but I absolutely love music and music can get me to do just about anything. I figured creating this new playlist of motivating songs would encourage me to get up, because I was excited to hear the new music and I was interested to see how many songs could actually keep me running. After that first run, everything changed for me. The after feeling of running was a feeling that I fell in love with, a feeling of euphoria. Not only did my body feel amazing, like I could now conquer anything, but my mind was in a new state with it. I began running more often, as I found more and more reasons to love it. I think the hardest part about running, or doing any kind of exercise, is physically getting up and out of bed to do it. Once you’re out there, and you have something you love motivating you (like my music did for me), it becomes something you look forward to doing.

Today I woke up to go on a run, looked outside and found these gloomy skies waiting for me.

Most people would probably see these gloomy skies and use them as an excuse to not go outside for a run, but I had new music and a good after feeling to look forward to. I accomplished my morning run, running up and down the hills throughout my community, and now I feel refreshed, happy and ready to take on any challenges that cross my path today. I found what motivates me and makes me feel good and now running is something I truly look forward to every single day. What will motivate you and make you look forward to your daily run?

If you’re having trouble finding something that motivates you and makes you look forward to running, try thinking about something you love. Maybe music isn’t going to work for you in the same way it did for me, but something else could. Do you have an overly energetic dog like me? Take the puppy on a run, he will keep you active. If you can’t find something to motivate you while you run, look for something that you can look forward to after your run (like the euphoria in my case). Good luck running!