Rule #1

You've got to have fun!


If you're going to spend twenty plus weeks preparing, you had better enjoy it or you'll never make it. Sure it's natural to have somedays where you just don't feel like training and that's OK. You just have to make sure that it's not an everyday thing where you find your self not looking forward to running.


One idea is to find some running partners. Yes, more than one, that way if someone on your list is busy you've still got others to rely on. Training with others makes you committed to more than just your self and will help keep you on track.


Choose your running partners wisely though. Try to find people who are of the same level of experience as you are or at some point you'll end up hating them for going to fast or they'll end up hating you for being to slow. Neither one of those is very enjoyable and can add undo stress to your traiining.


Maybe it's not going to work for you train with others. Maybe you don't live conveniently to your potential partners or work odd schedules that don't match up for training together. If that's your situation, it's OK. Running is definitely an individual sport. I mean no one is going to carry you through a marathon or make you run when you want to quit. A good running partner will just help take your mind off things when you are having a hard time.


If you are training solo, there are lots of things you can do to increase your chances of going the distance.

1. Before you begin training for a marathon, get really clear on why you want to do this. What will you feel, how will you feel, what will you become, who will be proud of you, etc. Having a clear picture of why you are running will give you something to draw on in those times when you're are feeling like training or when you want to quit on a long run.
2. Although it is important to pay attention to your running form and pace and so on, you have got to make sure you just plain enjoy the environment you are in. Make sure that while you run you take the time to notice the world around you. Many people today have taken to running with iPods and other mp3 players and that's fine if you must, but you are going to miss out on an awful lot of the experience of running when you are plugged in. Notice the sights, sounds, smells, people, animals... whatever is interesting to you.
3. Practice the 15 minutes rule. There will certainly be days when you just don't feel like running. I've had plenty of those myself. Tell yourself you are just going to go out for 15 minutes. What you will find is once you get going you won't want to stop. I honestly don't know anyone who actually runs for only 15 minutes once they get started, but "tricking" your brain into thinking small will allow you to get out there and go for it on those days when you'd rather not. Personally, I can't recall a day when I regretted going for a run, even though I may not have felt like it in the beginning.

A whole lot of fairly recent research suggests that we humans are one of very few mammals actually designed to run long distances. From our big "glutes" to a tendon in the back of our neck area designed to keep our head upright and still to our high concentration of sweat gland and many more hidden attributes, it appears that one of the reasons we like to run is because we were just plain built to do so.

It may not always seem natural to you, but that is more a result of poor posturing or non-use and both can be address with a little knowledge and some practice.

Running is fun, so let it be! Enjoy the fact that you're outdoors doing something that comes naturally and feels so darn good too! Most runners will agree that there is nothing like the feeling of freedom that comes from running. There is also nothing that quites compares to how alive you feel when you've completed a good run.

So have some fun, go for a run!