Therapists would call it conditioning, critics would call it procrastinating, but running does not always come down to ‘just stepping outside and doing it’. Even though this is often the major advantage awarded to the sport, it is preceded by a whole network of questions and conditions. This text message that I sent to my friend recently, sums it up quite well:
“It is so hard sometimes. This morning, it was too wet so I decided to postpone my run. I had breakfast, so that meant that I had to wait until that had digested somewhat. Whilst waiting, I had a few cups of tea, so running now would mean I will have to go to the toilet all the time.”
Most runners are confronted with more reasons not to go, than reasons to just step outside and do it.
A challenge to motivate
As many of you know, I am running in a challenge for charity. My friend and I are attempting to run the distance between our houses in Scotland and in Serbia. We started off with more than 2400 kilometres on the counter and now we have less than 1000 kilometres left to make it to our goal. This challenge has been a huge motivator behind my running success. Without it, I do not think I would have run as often and also not as far.
A handy flowchart
During the last winter months, the conditions have been far from perfect. I was motivated to go and run for our challenge, but it was not always that simple. That made me think about all the factors that need to be just right for me to put on my running shoes. I found a free flowchart programme, stole some coloured markers from my children and collected my observations in a nice little diagram for this 12th edition of Running Thoughts. The next time you are wondering whether you should go running, this rather unprofessional looking flowchart will tell you what to do.
If you want to know more about our Glasgow to Belgrade Home Run challenge and how and where to donate, you can visit our Facebook page. There we post regular updates on our progress, the challenges we face and the successes we book.