How to Climb Out of a Running Slump

Audio Transcript

Coach Claire Bartholic: Hello everyone. Thank you so much for joining me.

We get a lot of questions by e-mails so thank you to everyone for sending those in. We’d really love to hear your voice.

If you have a question that you’d like one of expert coaches to answer in an upcoming episode, you can submit it at runnersconnect.net/daily. We want to help you train smarter and get a whole lot faster. Let us know what’s on your mind.

Today, Jacob asks, “I’m looking for advice on how to get out of a slump. I’ve been very unmotivated about running over the past month, but I think that’s been building up for quite some time.

I don’t know what’s going on, but I just seem to get tired easily and end up running low mileage. I don’t know if it’s physical or psychological. Any advice on how to break out of this?

I have a running streak going with a one mile minimum. Sometimes I do one mile and decide I’ve done my duty, and call it a day. Any advice on how to get my oomph back?”

Thanks for your question Jacob. So many runners are highly motivated, type A personalities. When we encounter a wave of low motivation, it can be hard to understand what’s going on.

At some point, if you run long enough, every runner will encounter feelings like this. Sometimes it’s temporary and you just don’t want to drag yourself out the door, but once you do, you feel better and are glad you did.

What you were talking about, Jacob, is a bit different. You’re experiencing a more chronic form of low motivation that’s been going on for months.

My first question would be about the running streak you have going. Lots of runners like to run every day and it can be a fun challenge to see how many days you can run without any break.

The world’s longest recording running streak is held by a British runner named Ron Hill who earlier this year took his first day off in 52 years and 39 days. Crazy, right?

I’m going to bet your streak is not quite as long as Hill’s, Jacob. I’d like to get down to your reasoning behind the streak. it’s supposed to be a fun challenge, but you used the word “duty” to describe running your daily mile.

When running becomes duty and drudgery, it’s time to examine why you are doing it.

Your relationship with running is starting to sour so maybe it’s time to break up with it, for a little while.

That means my first piece of advice is to take a day off.

Take even a week off. This is mainly so that you can get mentally refreshed and begin to miss running again.

Now you don’t have to spend the time you would have spent running, sitting on the couch shoveling Doritos on your face, but maybe go for a walk, a swim, bike ride, or a hike instead.

Perhaps try some yoga, polatis or kickboxing. Physical exercise is essential to good mental health, but hang up the running shoes for a little bit.

The next thing to do is look at your running goals. Are you stuck on the hamster’s wheel of training for the same type of race repeatedly?

We see this a lot with marathon runners who train for marathons two or more times a year and then wonder why their training gets stale.

Novelty is one of the keys to human happiness so trying something new can invigorate your motivation. If you’re used to the marathon grind, try training properly for a fast 5K.

If you’re a tried and true half marathoner, get your feet out on the trails and sign up for a trail race.

Training for the same thing repeatedly, begins to feel a little bit like Groundhog’s Day. It’s an easy way to not only lose motivation, but to slowly go insane. So, mix it up.

Another way to sprinkle some novelty into your training is to change where you run.

I’m guessing that you run your one mile duty run from your house every day on the same loop, in the same way that you do every single day.

Try getting in the car and going someplace new.

It could be a park, some trails, or even a different neighborhood. If you are determined to keep that streak going, get in your daily mile but do it somewhere else.

My next tip is to find someone to run with. Running with a group or a buddy can honestly change your life and I speak from personal experience.

You become more motivated, accountable, and can make deep and lasting friendships.

If you don’t think you have anyone to run with, head to your local running store and ask them if they organize any group runs or check out social media in your area.

I guarantee you there is someone out there just like you that would love to have a little company on a run.

This doesn’t mean that you have to only run with other people. Running alone can be a deeply fulfilling form of Zen motivation or it can be boring monotony.

Find a way to make it interesting. If you run with headphones, take them off and listen to your breathing.

If you don’t run with headphones, put them on and follow down the rabbit hole of an interesting podcast or a comedy show.

Make up silly games to make running fun not a chore.

I have this game that I call the stealthy fartlek. Run an easy warmup and then stop and take a picture. It doesn’t have to be of yourself, it could be just something interesting that you see.

Then, run fast for a minute or two and then stop and take another one.

Jog for a few minutes and repeat. If you’re with somebody else, you can sprint ahead, turn around and take a picture of your friend, and then when they catch up, it’s their turn to sprint ahead and take a picture of you. Is this ridiculous and silly?

Yes, but sometimes a little silliness is solely lacking in our adult lives and it could be the perfect antidote to any running funk.

Speaking of silly, do you have kids? Grab one of them and go for a run.

Pacing a child can teach you more about running then you are teaching them. Maybe your kid hops on a bike and paces you while you run in the park. Either way, it’s a lot more fun than running alone.

One of my favorite ways to fall back in love with running is to volunteer. I recommend everyone who runs and especially those who race, give back to the running community by volunteering.

This could be offering to help at a water station, filling race bags, helping with registration, or becoming a pacer. There are so many ways to help and every race could use an extra hand.

When you give back, you are part of something larger than yourself and you are given the opportunity to get out of your own head for a little while.

You will meet new people and be inspired by both the speedsters at the front of the pack and everyone else who comes behind.

Now if none of those tips seem to help, there could be something physical going on. Common deficiencies in runners that can cause excessive fatigue include; low intakes of Iron, magnesium, Vitamin D or B12.

Make sure you’re eating a nutritious diet with lots of whole fruits, vegetables, nut seeds, and wholegrains.

Before you start randomly supplementing, be sure to see your doctor to diagnose a deficiency, because you could be at best wasting your money on expensive pills or at worst, compromising your health.

The best performance enhancing tool in the world is a regular quality sleep of seven to nine hours a night. Be sure that you are making good sleep a top priority.

Hopefully, some of these tips can pull you out of your running slump, Jacob and transform your relationship with running from duty back to love.

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Have a great run today.