Tricks to motivate you out the door for a run!
Why is it so hard to get out the door for a run? It is because day to day life is an "almost" inescapable trap. The effort needed to step out beyond work, laundry, bills, cooking, cleaning, newspapers, television, shopping and the sludge of daily existence is huge. Throw in bad weather, colds and Flu, pain and injury and it gets even trickier.
I have been running an average of 5 days a week for about 25 years. I am often asked, "How do you find the time or motivation to do it?" Its not magic but let me pass along a few tricks I use.
#1. Keep a log. This can be the most important weapon in athletic arsenal. Simple numbers in a log can be tremendous motivation. The log is essential for success. Consider this scenario, with and without a log. You had promised yourself you would get in a run sometime today but family situations kept getting in your way. It is a dark, rainy Sunday night. You can finally go get for the run but youre tired and the depressing weather has you thinking about the couch.
Stretching - Warm Up, Cool Down
Sweat First!
Ideally you should stretch after you break a sweat. There is risk of injury when stretching cold muscles. Running about a half mile very slowly then stopping to stretch is ideal. During winter this is not practical so if you stretch before you run, be gentle. After the run, schedule 2 to 5 minutes to stretch.