Are you burnt out on running? How do you stay motivated?

“I am burnt out on running”. This is something I am hearing from other runners in my running group. Actually, this is something I am experiencing as well. I’ve been feeling burnt out this winter as I train for the inaugural Illinois Marathon to be held on April 11th in Champaign, a city 2 1/2 hours from Chicago.

Training is becoming very difficult lately. Our trails and paths are covered with snow and sometimes with ice which makes running very tricky and challenging. Cold weather forces us to bundle up, slowing our stride. Add to that, the narrow window of daylight that forces us to train, at least during the week, in darkness.

How am I staying motivated to keep up my running schedule, despite horrible weather, grim road conditions and a foot injury? Here’s what I came up with.
• I registered to run an inaugural race. It’s exciting to be part of the very first marathon to be held in any city
• Take a rest. I am actually taking 3 days off which is something I have never done before. It’s refreshing actually. I was running too much, increasing training intensity too quickly.
• Route. I am taking different routes. Sometimes I run on a track when roads are way too icy or are too cold out, I have take down streets I’ve have never seen before around my neighborhood,tacked the hills at a local arboretum on long run.
• Changing workout routine. Running long, slow mile. Running short, fast miles, running tempo runs, doing interval workouts, cross training, mixing Yoga and Pilates
• Running with a friend
• Instead of listening to music I am now into audio books. Boy! That helps me keep going.
• Logging my runs using Nike + Coach
• Networking and chatting with other runners online or on bogs.

I hope these suggestions can be of help for those of you feeling the winter blues. I read somewhere this inspirational quote that also keeps me motivated:
“Never let the body tell the mind what to do”

I will keep running.....