Motivator for running. How to start running

Motivation is what many of us lack to start running. How to find it, and most importantly, where to look? Coming back after work, you probably noticed people who were able to find the strength to go jogging. Of course, everyone had a personal reason that motivated them to run. The idea of ​​going in for sports yourself and going for a run at least 2-3 times a week comes to mind. But then reasons begin to appear that keep you from starting.

You probably even tried to go for a run, but the feeling of fatigue during and after running did not allow you to find the strength for the next workout.

But what to do? What to do in such a situation? Maybe I should quit my job? Or should we still try to find a stimulus that will be a strong core of the idea?

Motivation for running

In any important matter, it is difficult to know where to start and what step should be the first.

The answer is simple: you need to start with making a decision.

The fact is that the decision made forces a person to think not about retreat steps, but about how to achieve the goal faster and more efficiently.

Look at yourself. Are you happy with your body? Do you like how you feel? If the answer to at least one question is negative, then you should think about changes in your life.

Many of us never started doing something good for ourselves because we made a different, later wrong decision. Make a decision to become healthier and more confident in your abilities.

Motivation- this is what motivates us to complete a task. Something that gives us strength and confidence, forcing us to move towards our goal step by step. Each of us can have our own motivation, the main thing is that it is strong and sincere.

Motivation can be positive And negative.

Positive motivation is to answer the question “What does running give us?”:

• Running helps improve metabolic processes in the body
• Helps you lose weight
• Develops coordination and physical stability
• Increases serotonin levels (happiness hormone)
• Helps you get used to a schedule
• Improves blood circulation

Negative motivation (demotivation) is suitable for those who are used to setting themselves challenges, participating in disputes, and doing something “weakly.” Examples could be challenge phrases:

• Don't have the strength to go for a run? Keep making excuses while someone is acting;
• While you are putting off until tomorrow, someone is approaching their goal;
• Sore feet? Tell this to those who continue to train, even with prosthetics.

Choose the method that suits you! There are people for whom praise works, while others need to constantly raise the bar and be better than their competitors.

Promotion

Remember how, as a child, our parents encouraged us for good deeds, trying to develop a habit of them?

It's the same with sports: we like to do things that bring us rewards. Of course, the main prize for regular jogging will be a beautiful and fit body, general endurance, and a healthy body. But not everyone can expect the effect.

Come up with a reward system for yourself. This could be anything, from a portion of forbidden delicacies to the purchase of something desired. Set a condition for yourself, for example, to run 15 km in a week. Try to reach your goal! If you didn’t succeed and last week you ran 3 km less, then add the distance for the next week - 15 + 3 = 18 kilometers!

Progress monitoring

In any business, it is very important to track the results. This makes it clear that everything you do has meaning and brings results. Hang a calendar in a visible place and mark the days on which you go for a run. Over time, you will notice that an unmarked day is simply an eyesore. You will probably want to correct the situation, immediately put on your sneakers and run, just to make the training week complete.

If the goal of exercise is to lose weight, then make a graph on which you will mark your weight loss, waist and hip circumference.

Burn your bridges

In order not to give up what you started, you need to deprive yourself of escape routes. Make sure that the person (or company) whose opinion is authoritative for you knows about your decision. Make a post on social media describing your goal and running plan.

Your friends will begin to be interested in your progress and perhaps someone will want to join. They will start turning to you for advice and support. This state of affairs makes you feel important and makes it clear that you are doing something worthwhile.

6 reasons to start running

1. Once you force yourself, you will feel your strength and power over yourself. If you go to training, you will feel satisfied in any case; if you miss it, it’s the other way around;
2. You will become an authority for those who have not yet decided to start. It's always nice to be a role model;
3. New acquaintances are a pleasant bonus to a new lifestyle. One way or another, you will begin to surround yourself with people with whom you have common interests. New people will help you continue to study, with them you can share your plans and achievements;
4. Any clothes look good on a toned body;
5. Once you develop the habit of running, you can easily instill new positive rituals in yourself;
6. Running relieves stress and increases the level of joy hormone. Try going for a run after someone has made you angry or upset. In just 10 minutes everything will seem insignificant and life will sparkle with new colors.

Here are inspiring quotes from the heroes of the best documentary about the development of the running movement, “Running is Freedom.” Read them and you will definitely want to watch the whole movie, and then put on your sneakers and run.

To go for a run, now it’s enough to find one free hour in your schedule and put on comfortable sportswear. Although no, you still need to find willpower, because the pull of the sofa and your own laziness are the main limiting factors that usually separate a person from running. But some 40-50 years ago there were much more such factors, and the main obstacle was society itself. A runner on the street was perceived by passers-by as an alien, as a disturber of public order. Why is he doing this? Why just run? No, you need to run in stadiums and only for the sake of Olympic medals.

But everything has changed. It has changed thanks to them. - these guys gave us running. And now we can run in parks, participate in marathons and enjoy every minute of our own freedom. Now, when we go out for a run, we feel triumphant, and this triumph is their merit.

Noel Tamini

I ran at night because I was embarrassed to run in public. Seeing a car coming towards me, I jumped into the ditch and waited for it to pass. Then I got out and ran on.

Martin Segalen

My doctor friend says, “Endorphins are bullshit.” But there are times when you get tired. You get tired and say to yourself: “Come on.” And suddenly you catch the rhythm, and suddenly you feel good. At this moment your body works like a machine. The mind is released. At this point, you can turn to thoughts. And get a little closer to heaven.

Katherine Switzer

When you run, you see a pattern of beautiful shapes and colors: foliage in the forest, blue sky. You breathe the air and feel alive on this Earth. For me it has always been a miracle.

Roger Robinson

For us, going for a run was like going to Woodstock to listen to music. Do something natural. Some people express themselves through music. Some through drugs. And I expressed myself through running.

Nina Kussik

You create your own run. No one helps you, no one bothers you. You're on your own. Wherever you are, you are alone with the environment. Alone with the world.

George Hirsch

Fred Lebow was a god-given promoter. He said, "Running won't take off if we stay in the Bronx." I don’t know why, but he wanted running to reach the masses. “I suggest we go to Manhattan and run in Central Park,” Fred suggested. Everyone then said: “Nonsense! How can you run in Central Park? No one is running there!”<…>When it was just the Central Park Marathon, few people watched it, everyone said, “The crazy runners are taking over the park.” But when the marathon moved to the streets, everything changed.

The marathon is a spectacle and it is inspiring. The first runner approaches you - so small, but when he runs past you, you realize how fast he runs. This is a colossal manifestation of the human spirit. And you want to try it yourself. Lebow knew this.

Tom Jordan

As we all know, one of the reasons for the revolution in road running was Steve Prefontaine. His fight with the Amateur Athletics Union and his death made people realize what was really important. Freedom was important to him. And the opportunity to make a living doing what you love.

Bobby Gibb

When I asked for an application form to participate in the marathon, Will Clowney, coordinator and one of the organizers, responded to me. He wrote: Women are physically unable to run 42 km, and the rules of the Amateur Athletes' Union prohibit them from running in competitions over distances exceeding 2.5 km. Nevertheless, I persuaded my mother to take me to the start. She thought I was crazy. I remember then I told her: “This is not for me, this is for the sake of all women. This is a tiny chink in the armor - an opportunity to change something.”

Foreword by IP.

The article you will read below was written unexpectedly for us.

For many years now we have been trying to get the author of this article onto the club forum and website, but have not yet achieved much success. Although it contains a treasure trove of useful and interesting information. Thanks to him, I (and others) became infected with running and fell ill with the marathon. Together with him, we ate a ton of salt during training, competitions and hikes, and also drank a pound of hardship on long journeys. And I’m sure he’ll tell us a lot of interesting things. How I rode my bike home after the army around Lake Issyk-Kul. How in winter I walked along the Montenegrin ridge, and in the fall - on a solo journey along the Baidaro-Kastropol wall. How I rode a bicycle to the marathon in Greece, how I ran the night ultramarathon from Yalta to Sevastopol. And a lot more - “how”.

However, he has already shared something with us: Service at Baikonur, Duathlon on an endless beach, Epiphany Meditation, Swept open by the winds of the North.

Well now Dmitry Muravtsov shares recommendations: « How to start and continue running». There is simply no more experienced mentor for this matter in our club.

An article for those who:

1) I used to run

2) Started running and quit,

3) Never ran, but wants to start.

No one will seriously dispute the benefits of physical activity. At the same time, there are not so many physically active people.

But if you interview your friends, you will find out that many of them started running and for some reason gave up. After all, running around the house once or twice in the morning is one thing, but running regularly is something completely different.

Most of those who stopped running stopped at the very beginning.

Why do people run? Why do you need to do physical education at all?

While everyone will find an answer to this simple question, the realities of life are as follows: only a few take care of themselves and have more or less long training experience.

If you analyze the reasons why people run, there are four of them.

- Sport.

In this case, the goal of running training is to develop speed and endurance. To cover a certain distance as quickly as possible - this is precisely the task that runners set for themselves. There are fewer people belonging to this group. There is nothing in the article for them.

- Health.

Some are running from a heart attack, others from boredom. When such people solve their health problems, they move to the LifeStyle group. Regarding advice from a doctor. Find a doctor who has health problems (fat, smokes, etc.) - and he will tell you why you shouldn’t run...

- Life style.

Often people in this group belong to a specific group or club. An example would be veterans' sports. These people want to diversify their lives, they want to BE healthy. They ride a bike, ski, go to the pool or gym, and watch their diet. This is the largest group of runners.

- Appearance.

Despite the fact that appearance is directly related to health, there are people who simply want to lose weight. Their goal is either to reduce body weight or to reduce the amount of subcutaneous fat in certain areas. They often quit training. It’s too hard, too long and too difficult for them to achieve their goal of losing weight.

And the reason they did not achieve results lies in the fact that they defined their goal incorrectly. To lose weight, losing weight should not be an end in itself, but normalizing metabolic processes in the body.

Therefore, such people urgently need to move or join a group "Health", or to a group "Life style".

Determine your goals - what YOU WANT to get from training. What should the achieved result be? In order to continue running once you start, you must understand why you need it?

If there is no goal or the goal is not chosen correctly, it will be easy to quit at the first difficulties. And they will, and you know it.

When difficulties arise, take them as a sign that you are on the right path.

Ideal if the desire to run comes on its own. But, as you know, good habits do not appear on their own and you need to make an effort.

Healthy running is also a good habit. And at the stage of habit formation, you have to overcome “obstacles” (which the person himself often poses).

Every beginning is difficult. Perhaps, The hardest thing about running is getting started.

For some reason, it seems that only you will not succeed. That you're just huffing and puffing.

This is wrong. Anyone who has been running for a long time has gone through this. Anything new is only difficult until it becomes easy.

It’s stupid to be afraid, you need to start and continue.

Know that if you continue to run systematically, you will definitely get good results. The result simply cannot fail to happen if everything is done correctly.

Where and how to start?

If you put off running and promise yourself that you will start on Monday, you are making a mistake.

By refusing to go for a run, you are practicing your “not doing.” Just start with the first workout, without waiting for the beginning of the week (spring / holidays / vacation / when you have money for a tracksuit and sneakers / when the children grow up).

If you have an idea, a desire, it means that you definitely have the strength to implement your plans.

Realize your plans as soon as possible!

Don't wait for the snow to melt - welcome spring on the run.

If you don't have running shoes, start running in the ones you have.

Thousands of runners under the Soviet Union ran in simple sneakers and even ran a marathon. A marathon in sneakers is certainly overkill, but your determination to start running is much more important.

Then you will be pleasantly surprised by the comfort and convenience of running shoes.

Start with a short distance, focus on the time of continuous running. For beginners, this indicator is more important than distance.

It is important to learn how to measure your heart rate before, after and during a run.

This in turn will allow you to determine changes in your level of training and preparation (and therefore your health).

Running training diary.

Keeping a training diary can significantly increase your chances of success. Enter running time, distance, well-being, and weather into it. When you do this regularly, learn to listen to your body.

For example, record "ran poorly" doesn't talk about anything in particular.

What was bad? Did your muscles, joints hurt, did you have pain in your side? Bad mood, general fatigue? Or maybe someone has eaten recently? Try to figure it out later. Muscle pain? – If you squatted with weight yesterday, then that’s normal.

Do your joints hurt? – Maybe there was just ice on the road for a couple of days or the shoes didn’t hold up.

Did you eat before training? – Remember and don’t do this again. If you missed a workout, then there is nothing to write down.

Record time, distance, all your victories and achievements - everything you see fit.

You can look at other people’s examples of training diaries on the Internet. Keeping records, over time you will be surprised when you calculate the kilometers, running time and heart rate recovery time.

With regular training, you will definitely be pleased with the results and quite quickly. Start running, start analyzing, use other people's positive experiences.

When is it better to run: morning or evening?

Not important. The main thing is that the training takes place.

There are advantages in both – we are talking about health, after all.

For example, in the morning the air is cleaner and your stomach is empty, but in the evening after a run you can enjoy peace and not rush anywhere.

Those who don’t run themselves will argue. It's better to be flexible. You can change the training time. By doing so, you will expand your comfort zone. After all, if you overslept in the morning, you can run in the evening. If you are expecting guests in the evening, then run in the morning or afternoon.

Follow hard strategy (regularity and planning) and soft tactics (timing and form of training).

Although for a beginner runner it is preferable to run at a constant time - until the habit is developed.

When you don't want to run.

Laziness, bad weather, no mood... What to do?

You probably don’t want to go to one out of ten training sessions. On some days, the pillow seems especially soft, and the sleep is especially sound. This happens to everyone.

It could be a moment of weakness or something else.

How to force yourself to go for a run?

Try to get dressed very quickly (like in the army) and not give yourself time to doubt. Call a friend and run together. If he runs slower, you can take one bike between two and run in turns. Or just a friend may be driving nearby. Drink a cup of tea, turn up your favorite track, or wear something especially sporty (shoes, T-shirt, windbreaker). Come up with a new route or run the old one in the opposite direction. Go one way by transport and run back. Do one more useful thing at the same time: walk the dog, swim in the lake, find out if the strawberries are ripe.

While running, listen to an audiobook or take your camera with you and photograph the sunrise and morning dew.

To stay motivated, you can read something inspiring at night. There are plenty of examples. It will be easier to force yourself to run out in the morning.

Helpful Tips:

With an instructor or an experienced runner, you can avoid many mistakes. Find such a person in your environment or on the Internet, use his knowledge and experience. There are many inspiring stories online about how a novice runner improved his health and even became a marathon finisher. At the age of 13, I myself read such a story in the book “I Choose Running.”

It has been noticed that the stronger the reluctance to run (due to laziness, weather or fatigue), the better you feel after running. After all, with every small victory you accumulate personal strength and develop psychological determination. You just have to warm up, run away, and then you won’t remember that you didn’t want to.

Time spent running will pass quickly, and time spent without running will pass even faster. You look at your watch and think: “I would have come running now!”

Or you run, endure, come back, and they tell you: “Something you did quickly today!”

Pleasant benefits of running))

There is one seemingly insignificant bonus that running gives.

During training, you can be alone and restore balance, “reset the system.”

In modern life, we are constantly surrounded by an information flow of advertising, music, news and just noise. Sometimes we are surrounded by not the most pleasant people and there is no escape from it.

Jogging is a chance to restore inner balance.

During training, everything bad and insignificant fades into the background or even disappears completely (however, all this can only be fully felt during a long run).

Despite the fact that a person needs communication like air, being alone with oneself is also very important. This is what the famous psychotherapist M.E. says about loneliness. Litvak: “The ability to love and tolerate loneliness well is an indicator of spiritual maturity. We do our best work when we are alone."

AND running gives us one of these opportunities!

There is a creative person in each of us. But sometimes you need to solve a problem, generate another idea, find a solution to a problem, but the muse is lost somewhere.

While running, thoughts may come to you that for some reason passed you by in the office at your desk. Sometimes, to find a solution, it even makes sense to run a cross-country race.

In terms of its positive impact on health, jogging leaves far behind other types of physical education and sports.

In terms of accessibility, it is also difficult to find a competitor to running.

Running is the best workout for the whole body. But even knowing this, not everyone manages to convince themselves to go for a run, much less a regular one. Motivation to run helps you take the first step. And it is precisely this, all kinds of reasons and reasons to start running, that will be discussed in our article.

Self-conviction

Everything hurts, just not today, fatigue has accumulated, the weather is not suitable, I can’t force myself, I don’t need it, I’m overwhelmed with work, I’m overwhelmed with household chores, I’m tormented by a runny nose, my stomach is bothering me, my back won’t bend, my loved ones are waiting, I’m not an athlete and running is not for me. Each of us must have said something from this list or something similar in content to ourselves every day or morning or evening when we were thinking about going for a run. Moreover, it doesn’t matter whether it was the first time or the second or fifth time. Those who have been running for a long time report that the fifth time everything is much easier and more confident. But before that, it’s still worth finding your motivation, which would help you not just go for a run one day, but also encourage you not to stray from your chosen path of self-development.

Promotion

For everything done, a person would like to be rewarded. So why not use this for running motivation as well. Is it encouraging to be proud of yourself, to be deservedly proud? Yes, but not all. To whom this does not encourage, admit to yourself what would be a reward for you for jogging. First for one, then for a series, then for regularity in this matter. And even if it was a box of chocolates, which I didn’t allow myself. Let it be a movie, theater, travel, fishing gear or fishing itself. Buying a favorite thing that you have long wanted, but have not had the opportunity to purchase, is also a great incentive. Well, all means are good here. It is important to start and stay in your pursuit, and then running will begin to be enjoyable.

A matter of honor

A matter of honor sounds proud. Every person who has made and implemented the decision that they will run is proud of themselves. But, not just like that, but with evidence or examples for others (you can call it whatever you want). That is, he ran and posted it on the Internet for all his friends and acquaintances to admire, and even added that he would run a certain number of kilometers every week. That's it - the path to retreat is cut off. You need to conform. And then all that remains is to admit: “if it works, it’s useless to quit.”

Company

It’s great if you find a company to run together in the mornings or evenings. So the chances of abandoning such an intention are reduced significantly. Today your companion motivates you to run, tomorrow you will tell him with reason that all far-fetched excuses are just a manifestation of laziness.

And, in principle, it’s a competitive moment - who can hold out longer and lose weight faster - that’s also . Just good company is also great. It’s more fun and interesting, and it’s also safer, well, if you run through the streets or parks (squares), forests.

Victory

Motivation helps you convince yourself to move towards your prospects. And this is already a victory. Making up your mind and not backing down is a victory. Getting together and doing it is a victory. Hence the feeling of a winner. After this, self-esteem strengthens and grows. Anyone who has run will understand.

You got up early in the morning, put on a tracksuit and sneakers, went for a run, there was no one around, and you didn’t care. You run and feel that you have won, your head rises higher and your chest bursts with pleasure. Even then, the pain in my legs is somehow pleasant, earned by even hard work - running. Well, if such a victory is achieved day after day, if the jogging schedule has already been drawn up and carried out with enviable regularity - this is already a victory in the cube. When the consequences become noticeable - the waist becomes narrower, the legs are toned, the stomach is smaller, the complexion is brighter, the sleep is stronger, there is less shortness of breath, then the feeling of victory will increase in unrealistic proportions.

Health

The positive effect of running on health is also motivation. And here lies the answer to the question, why force yourself at all and start running. The Ancient Greeks said: “If you want to be strong, run, if you want to be beautiful, run, if you want to be smart, run!”

Running has a beneficial effect on the entire body, as every doctor will say. Increases tone, immunity and mood, normalizes sleep. Jogging can relieve fatigue and add vigor even after a hard day at work; running adds calmness and balance.

Some scientists even suggest running as a way to combat depression. And why “to be smart, run” is because running puts your thoughts in order; at the moment of jogging, the thought process accelerates and, along with calmness, solutions to various issues or problems come to mind. For the heart, running is also invaluable: its blood supply increases, oxygen enters the cells more actively, and the speed of metabolic processes increases. Improved blood circulation is also great for blood vessels. The benefit for the stomach is that when running, the internal organs are massaged, which helps improve digestion and appetite. Also, as a result of running, the amount of subcutaneous fat decreases, and the skin receives a natural tightening. Well, this is a particularly interesting and important part of the benefits of running for girls.

Running motivation for girls

Weight loss is the main goal for girls who go for a run. Running is a universal workout for the entire muscle group. Running helps you lose calories and changes your figure for the better. And at the same time there are no financial costs. Showing off in tank tops and shorts in the summer, knowing that your legs are flawless and there is no cellulite there - isn’t this already motivation for girls? Buying a dress two sizes smaller and telling all your friends about it is not motivation for running. Feeling the admiring glances of both men and women is not motivation. And in addition to all this, you also have a great mood, because when you run, endorphin is released - the hormone of happiness.

And yet, how to start running

Start small. A long journey, like a long distance, looks scary, which gives rise to a whole bunch of excuses or decisions in your head to start later, when you have more time or energy.

Let it be one lap around a small stadium at first. Even if on the first evening or morning that you decide to devote to jogging, you will not immediately conquer the peak of sports, but it is a step. The step that is considered the most difficult is the step from I want to I do. When this milestone is overcome, it is worth adding running to your daily routine. So that it’s not jogging in your free time, but free time for jogging. Then the argument – ​​I didn’t have time to run, in most cases, will disappear by itself.

If you feel a loss of motivation when running, remember all the beauty that jogging gives: pride in yourself, health benefits, good mood and a boost of energy. And it doesn’t matter where you run – on a treadmill or in a beautiful park, the main thing will remain the feeling of what you have experienced and the result that you have achieved. And also about feelings. As Katherine Switzer, the first woman to officially run the Boston Marathon in 1967, said, “When you run, you see a pattern of beautiful shapes and colors: leaves in the forest, blue skies. You breathe the air and feel alive on this Earth. It has always been a miracle for me."

For some people, running apathy sets in as soon as they look at their friends’ running selfies on their Facebook feed. But today we will not talk about them, but about those who, once inspired, became disappointed and decided to quit running.

We divided these runners into three groups - each has its own points of internal resistance that force you to hang up your sneakers. And for each such group, we gave compelling reasons not to put off running until better times and to stay in running longer.

Read: maybe this is about you?

Dreamers

They run from five days to a year. They quickly get inspired, train actively almost every day, buy new running gear and disappear after a couple of months. The most common reasons: laziness, injuries, switching to another physical activity, a lot of work, illness, bad weather, “running is not my thing.”

Return points:

Good goal. Illusions like losing weight by summer, running for company, or preparing for a 10-kilometer race from scratch in two weeks are dashed against the rocks of common sense.

Those who set unrealistic running goals make the same mistakes with other sports. It is much easier and more effective to make running part of the global goal - to be healthy even in old age.

Responsibility for yourself. It happens that you don’t want anything. Now there is an unreliable minimum that may end. And you seem to understand everything, but you have neither the strength nor the desire to change anything. The fear of starting paralyzes the body and life.

Therefore, running can be an excellent meditation and a big step towards yourself. From those who do not strive for anything, bribes are smooth. And in running it’s quite difficult to screw up.

Regularity. not necessary, but for visible results it would be a good idea to start three times a week.

Running friends. Your determination to run can be seriously undermined by the lack of support from family and friends. If you were unable to enlist their support, feel free to go to a running club () or look for company in running groups (for example, "Running for everyone"). There are a lot of newcomers there, a wonderful atmosphere and unrealistic support for your endeavors.

Trainer's advice: When you see your first running successes, you want to move mountains and run not the five planned kilometers, but three times more at once. However, any load should be gradual.

Experienced

They run for six months or a year, or have run a half or a marathon. They often and with pleasure go on running tours, support challenges and generally run regularly.

The reasons for apathy can be injuries, poor results at the first serious start, lack of visible progress, personal dramas, illness or fatigue from the “competitive pace”, lack of new goals.

Return points:

Registration for the Dream Run. Do you want to meet Gordon Ramsay or Natalie Dormer in sexy tights? Or maybe, while running in the drizzling rain, you imagined that it was a sea breeze?

For many runners, marathons are the perfect excuse to go somewhere they've always wanted to go. After all, there is nothing more pleasant than running along the most picturesque streets of the city, without the risk of getting hit by a car and feeling that you are welcome here.

Change of scenery. Running, like a favorite song that has been on repeat for weeks, can get boring. Satiety sets in when it gradually crowds out many other pleasures from your life, the value of which you understand only in their absence. In the intense rhythm of training, it is important to listen to yourself and maintain a healthy balance without a total bias towards running.

If you don’t want to go for a run, replace it with another sport: often in the heat, running is replaced by a swimming pool, and in winter by training in the gym.

Hamster in the mirror. He who runs well eats well. Running training and an active lifestyle allow you to sometimes indulge in delicious foods without consequences for your figure.

When we stop running, the habit of eating well doesn't go away. If there are fewer angles in the photo in which you look good, it’s time to return to the sport.

Often, competitive pressure makes it difficult to admit the obvious to yourself. In cases where dislike of distance has nothing to do with fear, it is better to consult with a trainer and choose the optimal type of training. It's normal not to want to run a marathon. It is not normal to hold on to other people's goals as if they were your own.

Trainer's comment: Often, among experienced people, the cause of apathy is accumulated fatigue. It can be physical and psychological, but in any case you need quality long-term rest, a change in activity or sport, and sometimes a complete exclusion of running activity.

Running changes the quality of life and changes the worldview in terms of health and energy. Two to three weeks without sports, stress at work and at home will help you regain motivation and desire to train.

Cultists

They have been running for more than five years: people with permanently sealed nipples, they have hundreds of trails behind them, a huge number of marathons, ultramarathons and at least one Ironman. Many of them ran a three-hour marathon and went to triathlon for new sensations. Taking twenty seconds off your face is a reason for tears of joy.

Causes of apathy: existential questions of human existence, reaching the limit in results and lack of obvious progress, personal dramas.

Return points:

To be an example. Take a look around - you might be the one who inspired half the office to run. And when there are children, the motivation to become an excellent personal example triples. A handsome and fit marathon runner parent is more exciting than any career achievement.

Local starts. Unless you are a stellar Kenyan, winning any famous marathon will be almost impossible. But the path to a prize place on the coveted pedestal often lies through small local starts, which many runners ignore in pursuit of prestigious races.

To complete the Ironman distance, you don’t have to immediately go to the Hawaiian Islands and sell your car. In Ukraine and Russia there are competitions for this distance, practice at them.

Forever Young. People regularly make smaller mistakes when trying to guess your age. Habits of healthy sleep, eating, and self-organization developed over the years benefit not only you, but also your family. No childhood obesity or computer addiction, but frequent trips with the whole family and excellent support from relatives at the start.

Teach and learn. Having been running for many years, you definitely have something to tell newcomers. A healthy complexion, contrasting with the sallow complexion of office workers, a toned body and a good mood makes people suspect you are a coach and seek advice on a healthy lifestyle.

Runners love everything new and are happy to go to the pros to learn, buy medal hangers and beautiful running clothes. Often those who have been running for a long time find amazing insights and implement them, making the lives of runners easier and more enjoyable. You never quite know where your love of running will take you.