Find Your Running​​​​​​​ Mojo

Smart sessions and careful planning will boost your motivation and results this autumn. Follow these expert tips.

- Sarah Ivory

Don’t feel like running all of a sudden? With the shorter days and falling temperatures, it’s natural your running motivation might plummet as summer comes to an end. ‘I’ve experienced how difficult it is to get out of the door when it’s cold, grey, raining and miserable,’ says former 1,500m Olympian and founder of training camp Performance Team (performanceteam.co.uk), Andy Baddeley. ‘I’ve procrastinated and put it off.’ And he’s right – even the hardiest of runners can struggle to muster up the energy for training when the shining sun fades and the prospect of pounding the pavements becomes less than appealing. The trouble is, running isn’t easy, adds Katharine Merry, ex-Olympian and Great North Run Duracell bunny pacer. ‘Training was tough when it was my sole job, but I’m now a working mother and know how hard it can be [as a hobby],’ she says. You need the know-how to up your enthusiasm when it dips. Here’s a six-step guide to getting out of the door again. Trainers on?

1 HAVE A GOAL

Running will seem a lot more exciting if you’re working towards a race or goal. ‘Having something to work towards makes it much easier to motivate yourself to run,’ says Baddeley. ‘Ideally, you’ll have a long term goal (to race your first 10K or to finish a marathon, for instance) that you then break up into several “medium-term goals”, which might be to complete a certain number of parkruns or to run a certain time, or even simply to run three times a week for a number of consecutive weeks.’ Find a schedule to follow that will help you to reach your goal and you’ll be far less likely to skip sessions.

2 FIND A BUDDY