Date: 25 June 2020 Author: Energise Me
When you work full-time and it’s dark before and after work, it’s hard to stay motivated to run through the winter. If you weren’t a keen runner in the first place then we’re impressed if you’re still going.
Determined to find a way to love running, our Marketing and Communications Manager Sara embraced flexible working and technology to get out there.
Stubbornness and the knowledge that I feel better when I run are just about keeping me going.
It was about four years ago that I first decided to take up running. I had friends and family that were enthusiastic runners. The flexibility of an activity I could do anytime and anywhere was really appealing.
Four years, five couch to 5k attempts, a few falls and a dog incident later I’m still working on enjoying running. Stubbornness and the knowledge that I feel better when I run are just about keeping me going.
The Couch to 5k app got me through the summer but I needed extra motivation to keep running. After a couple of outings with the Zombies Run! app and a failed attempt at a free tailored training plan, Nike Run Club’s Not Motivated Run with Headspace caught my attention.
The Not Motivated Run is a guided run on the Nike Run Club app, led by Head Coach Chris Bennett and Andy Puddicombe from Headspace. Given my lack of motivation, I thought it was worth a try.
I arranged to work from home so I could start early and go for a run at lunchtime rather than in the dark after work. When it got to run time I didn’t feel like it but I’d committed. I was already in my kit and I’d eliminated all excuses.
This time I imagined an effortless finish. It was a simple shift but it worked.
The guided run was a mix of friendly banter, running tips and silence. The talking was just frequent enough to distract me from my normal negative thoughts about running. It also provided reassurance that I was making progress towards the finish line. For once, I wasn’t obsessed with how far I had run or how slow. I just followed their suggestions and imagined the run I wanted to have.
I usually start a run thinking that I’ll trip up or end in an exhausted and crumpled heap. This time I imagined an effortless finish. It was a simple shift but it worked.
The Not Motivated Run was perfect to shake up my thinking. I felt relaxed and motivated to find another guided run to try. I’m now working my way through all the Headspace runs.
Helping us tackle inactivity to boost health and happiness
