Maintaining Your Momentum in Marathon Training

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Keeping good steady momentum is crucial to meeting your running goals.

There will be times when you might feel unmotivated or bogged down in your marathon training. In this post I will show you five great ways to keep your enthusiasm for running and exercise week after week.

Here is how I keep momentum…

Maintaining Momentum

1. Look for balance.
   We all know that running is awesome. Nothing beats the feeling of having a good run. However it’s not ideal to be a one sport person. I’d like to encourage you to use focused cross training to become a stronger runner. Enjoying something other than running will help keep you balanced and decrease your chance of injury.




2. Train for races.
   Never underestimate the power of a race on the calendar, especially one that you’ve paid to enter. Schedule at least one race in the spring and one in the fall. That will give you a goal to work toward. Don’t feel like you have to run marathons constantly if you don’t want to. The goal can be varied: trail running, building up your distance, increasing speed, or doing a warrior dash or other obstacle race.




3. Connect with like-minded people.
   It can be easy to think that you’re the only one out there making the sacrifices to be healthy and dedicated to running. However you are not alone. There are many ways to connect with other runners. Join a running club (go to RRCA.com or your local specialty running store to find a running club near you), take an exercise class, or meet a friend to run. When you spend time with successful, goal-oriented people you are more likely to become like them.




4. Mentor a new runner.
   Pass along everything you’ve learned and encourage someone else. Getting into any new sport can be intimidating. It’s nice to have someone who “knows the ropes” and can give you good advice and support. When people see the benefits that running brings to your life it’s very likely that they’ll want to experience this too. However I must give a little warning so that you’re not too pushy as you promote running. Most people need to find the desire within themselves first. Let people come to you with questions instead of backing up a truck of all your running wisdom and dumping it on them.




5. Run because you love it.
   Don’t look at running as a chore. You can’t lose sight of the fact that running is a gift. Live in the moment. Make it fun. Be proud of your distances, times, t-shirts, and medals. Your physical health is something that you should never take for granted. Take good care of the body you’ve been given and work to meet your physical potential.

I hope that you can use these five tips! What else do you do to maintain your momentum? Leave a comment below.