How to Boost Running Motivation

Running in the winter stinks. Especially when you have a full time job. The snow, and negative temperatures do not help either. My running mo-jo has been low lately. On Saturday Penny and I did a great 4ish mile run at 10 am when it was a whopping 13 degrees. It felt great. I had been waiting to see if I would feel up for the trail race I mentioned earlier. In order to boost my willingness and interest in running I did three things.

 1. Bought a new watch. Mine has been slowly deteriorating for the last year. I have to snap it together every time I put it on, it smells funny, and the buttons sometimes work. I got the new Garmin Forerunner 10. It has a GPS which will work well for me. I previously mapped my runs out on Daily Mile before I went running. This worked well, until we got Penny. She likes to run where she wants, when she wants. Having her has made me realize that I really like that type of running as well. We also prefer to take her running on trails so she can be off leash. It's quite hard to map trail runs. This summer the loop that I thought was 3 miles turned out to be only 2.67 once we finally GPS'ed it. It's not that much of a difference, but it adds up.  This will help me know how far we've really gone. It's  kind of a splurge, but my Birthday money was burning a hole in my pocket. Charlie has the men's version so I know it works well and is a good buy. Plus it's pink! 

2.  Registered for this race. The Muddy Moose, in April. I really like trail racing and the 14 mile distance appeals to me. It's far enought that I really have to train, but short enough that I can walk the next day/week.  Looking at the pictures from the previous years got me excited to run through mud puddles too.

3. Wrote a training guide. Having a plan helps me stay focused. It's funny how just a piece of paper on the fridge can keep me on track. The plan starts tomorrow, after it's done snowing.

What do you do to get motivated?

Lauren