Do you keep saying you want to go run or feel like you should then always end up watching the next episode of Gilmore Girls, which you’ve already seen five times, on Netflix? It is hard to motivate yourself to leave the comfort of your bed to go for a run but with all this continued midterm stress and soon enough finals stress now’s the perfect time to start taking running study breaks and let the release of endorphins boost your mood and relieve some of that stress. Here are some tips to make getting started a little easier.
1. Don’t be afraid to run/walk
If you haven’t been running at all, you might be surprised to find you can’t just go and run for five miles. You shouldn’t feel bad to run for a couple minutes then walk a little to catch your breath then run and so on. At first you might be doing more walking than running, but eventually you’ll work up to getting rid of the walk breaks all together.
2. Run outdoors
This may seem like an obvious one but it is a lot easier to keep going when you actually feel like you are going somewhere and aren’t on the treadmill staring at the same wall the whole time. Also, when you are in a row of treadmills it is easy to compare your speed and time to the people next you and feel competitive or not as good at running as someone else rather than just focusing on personal goals. There are plenty of good trails to run on at Duke that you should try out. There is the loop around East Campus or if you want something slightly more difficult the Al Buehler trail around the WaDuke golf course.
3. Run with other people
Sometimes it is nice to just to go run by yourself, listen to your music and completely zone out. However, it can also be nice to run with a friend who will help you keep pace and if they are slightly faster even help push you to run a little faster and/or farther.
4. Set a goal
Whether you are ready to start working towards a 5k, 10k or half marathon, setting a goal will make sure you don’t give up after a week or two. Once you’ve signed up for a race and told other people about your plan you’ll have outside motivation to reach your goal. A race will also gives you a set date to reach your goal by that you can’t just put off like you can if you just say to yourself that at some point in the future you would like to run 10 kilometers. It will ensure you keep to a schedule instead of putting every run off until tomorrow.