Take Advantage of the Good Days
Save Your Mental Strength for the Tough Days
Not very many days you’ll get in February that are 50 degrees or warmer!
We really have to take advantage of those nice days and get in a solid run. These are the kinds of days where you see on the calendar and move runs around so you can run longer or faster because they don’t come very often!
When the weather is “typical February weather” it’s not always easy to get motivated to get out for your run. And when that’s the case, these tips will help ya out!
Listen to music or a podcast. My current favorites include Smartless, This American Life, How I Built This, and The Outside Podcast.
Run an errand (like to the bank).
Make a list (mental or paper/pen) before I go and then analyze what needs to get done.
Run by kilometers… It really throws your mind for a loop!
Use a GPS to run slow.
Don’t use a watch at all. Running naked is good to keep your mind from fixating on your metrics.
Treat yourself for getting out the door for a hard workout.
Run with a friend. Accountability and motivation always help boost your performance.
Run an out and back – and go at least 2 miles away.
In other news, running challenges are freakin’ hard. I had a good attempt (for me at least) at aiming for a different kilometer every day of the month. My big failure was in not being able to run the big days. I couldn’t crack the 20s (roughly 12 miles or more) during the week, which left me with super long weekend days.
After 13 days, my shins were on fire, my body was exhausted, and there was no way I was going to be able to spend the last half of the month running 12 miles a day.
More news: If you saw on Instagram or Facebook yesterday, I posted that I’m the new head coach for Cinnaminson’s middle school track program.
I’m very thankful for the opportunity and looking forward to helping some youngsters get involved in the sport. If you want to follow along with our journey, you can like us on Facebook or Instagram.
Friday’s Action Plan:
Setting big goals requires you to continually tweak and fine tune how you’ll accomplish those goals.
What’s Got My Attention:
Article: New World Record - Indoor 1500
Popular Articles on the Blog this Week:
Adding Striders To Your Weekly Running
Carly’s Interval Training Running Playlist
Popular Newsletter Sessions:
When you don’t feel like running - Feb 2021
Strength is speed - Feb 2020
Quote of the Day:
You have to get up every morning and tell yourself 'I can do this'.
Connect with me:
Here’s what I’m working on and what I’d love you to check out:
Thanks for following along on the journey! Have something you’d like to add? Have suggestions or comments? Email me: TrainwithMarc@gmail.com
If this resonates with you, I would love it if you could share it.
Marc is a middle school teacher and coach but also works with distance runners online. I help distance runners around the globe by providing support, writing customized training plans, and designing workouts to help them reach their racing goals. I write for my blog every Wednesday morning and newsletter every Friday morning.