How to Start Running So You Stick With It

I started running as a regular habit about 3 years ago, after getting motivated by my heart-sister, Darcy. She shared with me a fabulous Couch-to-5k program that got me started. Over the years, I have passed that program on to others. I will post that program in a separate post, but wanted to preface that program with the following article.

I submit this as an exact reprint from the following website, but without the ads and other unnecessary links:

http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Start-Running-So-You-Stick-With-It&id=5034156

Running is a great habit to develop. While the health benefits of running are often touted, the mental and spiritual benefits are just as important. Running is a great way to all-around condition your entire life, and while it isn't necessarily easy to get in to, it is simple enough to start today. Forget all the fancy clothing, shoes, running videos, magazines and gurus- beginning running is as simple as stepping out your door and starting today.

Now, there is an immediate disclaimer. When most people start a new habit, they get very excited and emotionally engaged in starting it. They do a whole ton of research, they talk about it every chance they get, they feel that it will fix all of their problems and they wonder what took them so long to get started doing it in the first place. While it's good to have that initial burst of enthusiasm, energy and emotion to start with, it's more important to temper your excess passion to make sure you stick with the habit. After all, what's more common then deciding on a change in your life, riding the emotional wave for the first month or two, then getting frustrated and stopping after that first wave crashes?

Because you want to start a long-term running habit, you need to start out in a similar manner to what you'll be doing in the future. Let me clarify that statement. As I mentioned earlier, once you start a new habit you're likely to go 'all in' with it. However, no one goes 'all in' on anything perpetually for their entire life. We have peaks and valleys of energy and enthusiasm, and a life-long habit is developed when you know how to follow it regardless of where you are on the enthusiasm wheel.

Because of this, it's best to start well below the level that you really want to engage the new habit with. When you start running, all you want to do is go out there and run three times a day, until you're completely worn out and just can't run anymore. Nobody who runs long term does this day in and day out. Instead of going all in to start, consider setting small, easily attainable goals. Instead of deciding you're going to run 3 miles a day, every day, make it your goal to run 1 mile a day, every day. Instead of running every day, consider running every other day. Whatever you want to do with the new habit, cut it in half. This will help you develop a realistic expectation of what the habit will be like in your life, and it will ensure that you aren't running purely on enthusiasm.

Then, as you condition your self to running, you want to very gradually increase your participation. Don't start, feel good, then decide to train for a marathon starting month two. Ease yourself into the habit and grow at a reasonable pace. No one who has run for three years suddenly decides to double their running time every week. Future pace the habit, think like someone who has been doing it for years, think like someone who has already achieved what you're aiming to achieve, and do what they would do. Instead of trying to sound committed to your new hobby with bravado, act like someone who is committed to the running habit.

Back on the Wagon

As many of you know, I took a little hiatus this last month. I had some relationship things to work out, and then my grandmother passed away after a long "run" of 96 years. The trip back to be with the family was an odyssey in and of itself, as was the trip back home, and the impact of her passing left me more melancholy and emotionally depleted than I had anticipated.

I spent the last month reconnecting with my husband, getting back in touch with my inner voice and basically being very gentle with myself. I also had a 4-day camping event wherein I, along with many other stellar folks, assisted our friend with stage 4 cancer to "enjoy" her last SCA (living history, medieval reenactment) event ... for now, anyway...

The last week, I have been thinking about running; remembering what it feels like to be strong, flexible and rested, to have reserves of physical and emotional strength to draw upon. I have been imagining my days starting off with a run as part of my morning routine. I am imagining how my body vibrates when I'm eating lots of healthy vegetables and grains and limiting my fats and especially animal products.

So last night, after a few prior attempts to motivate myself, I set my running gear on the dining room table. Why there, you may ask? It's not as convenient as the bathroom, not as obvious as the kitchen counter... it is the first thing I see when I walk into the kitchen in the morning, AND the first thing I see when I open the door after coming home from work. I missed the hook first thing in the morning (bypassed the shoes for a morning yoga session and breakfast and a chat with my son), but at work, I thought of those clothes sitting there on the dining room table all day, knowing I would see them when I came home. And just like that, I started planning my after-work afternoon - quick car trip to the college for my ID and bus pass, then pick up necessitites at Costco (that whole trip only took me an hour!!), and then home. I walked in, picked up my shoes and clothes, found my iPod, fresh with my latest favourite tunes (GLEE!!), instructed my boys to unload the car and .... okay, well, I fiddled and procrastinated for another 10 minutes, but THEN! .... I walked out that ever-lovin' door.

Today's lesson was not about how far I ran, or how fast I pushed myself, what my time, distance and/or heart rate was. It was about getting. out. that. door. Yay me!