Welcome to Karen Welby, Certified Holistic Health Coach, Running Coach, Personal Trainer and Founder of Active Accessories

I remember feeling burned out on running at some point during my challenge to run 12 half marathons last year. I thought to myself once or twice, “not another race” and “not another training run.”  It’s likely to happen again this year with running 13 trail races including a 50K and a 50 miler and in addition to a half and a full marathon. Add in the training miles and you have a whole lot of running.

2 things to remember when you start feeling burned out…it’s temporary and there are ways to get past it and love running again. I promise. Karen shares her tips to staying motivated to run 13 in 2013.

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You’re over six weeks into the challenge of 13 races in 2013. With a busy race schedule on the horizon, you may be wondering how you will maintain motivation and avoid boredom during training. You’re probably asking yourself, “How can I maintain the excitement and motivation from sign-up through race day?” I’ve put together a few tips for ’13 in 2013′ participants to help them tackle their training runs this year with a smile.

1 – Find a Friend to Run with, Running Club or Virtual Buddy.

You are going to be training for an entire year – don’t do it alone!! Find a running buddy or join a running club. You could connect with old friends or meet faster runners who can push your limits. If you meet once a week that totals 52 runs that you don’t have to do alone. If you have difficulty finding a training partner, look for a virtual running buddy (perhaps another 13 in 2013 participant) and check in with that person weekly.

2 – Try a New Loop every other weekend.

Running the same loop over and over will get boring for even the most disciplined runners.  Try going to a local park or track and check out new scenery.  A good website to find loops near you is on USA Track and Field.

3 – Spice Up Your Runs with Fartleks.
Fartleks break up the monotony of running your ‘same old loop’ because you’re focusing on the watch – not the loop. Try different types of fartlek runs such as:

Fartlek #1 – Run 1-2 miles to warm up, then try running this sequence: 1 minute hard – 1 minute easy, 2 minutes hard – 2 minutes easy, 3 minutes hard – 3 minutes easy,  3 minutes hard – 3 minutes easy,  2 minutes hard – 2 minutes easy, 1 minutes hard – 1 minutes easy – then cool down for 1-2 miles.

Fartlek #2 - Another Fartlek to pass the time and work on your speed is alternating 30 seconds hard and 30 seconds easy.  Repeat each 30-second run 10 times for a great 10-minute workout.

4 – Never sweat a “Bad Run”.

Bad runs happen. Anything from what you ate, how you slept, how stressful your day was, your hydration and even the weather can have a big impact on the quality of your workout. Try and figure what caused your subpar run, make a note and move on. And if you’re simply not in the mood to run, substitute a cross training workout.

5 – Reward Yourself.

Set small goals throughout the year and reward yourself along the way. If you dominated a hard workout, reward yourself with your favorite Italian dish, new running shoes or a cold beer. Be sure to set a reward for race day and if you hit your goal – indulge! You earned it!

What other tips do you have to keep your training “fun”?