You've bought your new trainers, your workout clothes, your branded water bottle and your stylish women's heart rate monitor, but you just cannot get motivated to make that start. Or maybe you've been training for weeks and now you suddenly lack the motivation to get changed and get moving. You know that feeling. You really should go on that run today, because you really have to get in shape for a forthcoming [wedding/beach holiday/school reunion/whatever], but really just cannot be bothered.
Procrastination hits us in all manner of ways for all manner of activities. Even for activities that we enjoy, never mind those that we are not keen on. We can debate whether or not to do a particular task or activity over and over and over. The irony being that it is often quicker just to do the task – or at least make a start.
When it comes to running, it is often the getting started that is the hard part. I believe that this is why so many people just run for a short while, but do not move themselves up to the next level. It just seems too hard.
Quite some time ago I noticed that, for me, the first mile is often my hardest mile. I can really feel like giving up for the day because I'm breathing heavily and the time is dragging. Then suddenly, my mind wanders a bit and a rhythm sets in and the miles float by. Of course, there are some days when it really is too much effort. Maybe I have some illness looming, or I'm suffering from a lack of rest, in which case it really is time to call it a day. However, the majority of the time the “down” feeling passes and the running becomes almost effortless.
One of the great things about training with a heart rate monitor is that I can quickly assess whether my feeling “down” is physiological, or purely mental. My breathing may feel more laboured than usual and it may feel like I'm struggling more than usual. A quick glance at my heart rate reading generally shows that I'm pretty much at exactly the same level as I normally am at that stage in my run. Only very rarely will is show that my heart rate genuinely is considerably higher than normal – in which case I'm more ready to listen to the signals I'm getting. This can be later confirmed by taking a resting heart monitor reading to compare against my normal reading. An unusually high reading probably indicates that more rest is needed.
So, on the occasions when I don't really feel like going for a run, my method is as follows:
I promise myself that if I still do not feel up to the days scheduled activity after the first mile and a half (two kilometres), then I will stop.
I can genuinely say that, of all the many times I have made myself this promise I can only think of a couple of occasions when I really did feel the need to stop. Most of the time the training is as good as normal. There are even occasions where I had to force myself to get started, and then proceeded to have such an enjoyable run that I was disappointed when it was over.
So remember, the important thing is to make a start!
If you are interested in running and training with a heart rate monitor, I have started to share my experiences with this wonderful modern method of training on my website. It will also help the guys, but I will be covering the little extra details specifically for the ladies :)
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