Sometimes it's hard to find motivation to run when you really don't feel like it. There's always excuses that you can think of to put it off. I don't consider myself particularly lazy, since I am a marathon runner. I'm sure most of you can relate to knowing you need to complete a run, but really wanting to rest instead. In this blog I will explore different excuses I use myself, and solutions that can help solve them.

Putting off the runs can really effect your weekly mileage. I've been running every day since January 1st, but sometimes I'll just run a mile because I'm busy or I feel it's too cold outside.

Excuses

• I can't go to the gym or I'll lose my parking spot
• It's too cold to take the bus to the gym
• It's too cold to run more than a mile outside
• I really want to spend time with my roommate
• I want to go out and I won't have enough time to get ready if I run now
• I can't get up early enough in the morning to workout
• I'm battling a cold
• I'm still sore from last week's long run
• I don't have any clean laundry to go running in
• I'm too sad to run
• I run enough already

You've all heard these excuses before. Maybe you've said a form of them to yourself at some point. The reason I truly believe these excuses are avoidable, is because I've been working on solutions all month. Some of you just may not be morning runners. In the winter, I'm definitely not a morning runner. I've noticed that going to the gym after work before I go home helps a lot. If you stop at home before running, it's harder to get more motivation to leave the house again.

Sometimes some of your excuses can be the very reason you should go run.

In 2009, my daddy passed away from cancer. My biggest excuse at the time was being "too sad to run." However, I also felt guilty because he made me promise I wouldn't stop running. I managed to trudge outside somehow, and finish training for my first marathon. I trained with my friend, Shanelle, and ended up having a great summer. All those endorphins can really do a body and mind good! I also know how great Shanelle and I felt (& looked! :-p ) from all the miles we put in.

Last weekend, I wasn't sure if I would participate in the Chicago Polar Dash Half Marathon. I signed up for the race at the 2011 Chicago Marathon Expo. I knew the race was months away, but I was lured to sign up by the awesome fleece pullovers they handed out at registration.

My friend sent me a video (see below) that really made me stop to think. It's a Nike ad that really should push you to just get out there. I think the video is extremely motivational for any aspect of life, not just running. After watching the video, I knew I was going to at least try the race. I ended up not only finishing the race, but getting a 6 minute PR in the half-marathon at 2:18:10. Adam also finished the race with an impressive PR of 1:39:51, coming in 35th place overall. As for myself, I came in 494th place overall, and I'm okay with that :). Ha!

Solutions

• Track your training on WalkJogRun, with the free training diaries

I enter my training entries daily, and I love how you can see your progress over time

• Share those training diary entries to your Facebook and Twitter

It's an easy way to get motivation and encouragement from your friends and family members

• Follow a specific training plan

I follow the WalkJogRun training plans because I know how important it is to follow a plan to stay motivated. If you are constantly striving towards a goal, you're more likely to make it happen.

• Don't skip meals!

It's so important to eat regular healthy meals. If you don't eat right before a run, you're less likely to go out there and complete it. Sometimes I'll skip breakfast and it affects the rest of my day. Don't do that!'



• Run with a friend

As I mentioned above, running with my friend really helped me get motivation. If I didn't feel like running one day, I knew I had to anyway because my friend had planned it in her schedule

What are some excuses you've had for not running in the past? What solutions did you come up with to solve the problem? Go for a run today, and let us know how it goes!

Introducing Andy Bowen: trail and ultra marathon runner

Andy Bowen is a trail and ultra marathon runner. Training for ultra marathons has helped him realize what running is all about. He isn't interested in constantly breaking records or beating his previous times. He enjoys testing his self preservation and truly finding out how long his body can last.

We often talk about marathons and half marathons on TalkJogRun. We were interested in hearing from someone who had experience running ultra marathons and running on trails. Trail running is quite a different experience than running on the streets, and we wanted to find out why!

In this podcast

• Andy shares what it's like to run on trails as well as participating and training for ultra marathons.

I'm sure many of you can't imagine running for over 8 hours at a time, which is something Andy does regularly!

• Andy explains how you don't need any special equipment to get started training

According to him, trail shoes aren't necessary at the very beginning of your training.

• Find out why Andy prefers running on the trails and not the streets!

Although you may be afraid of running through trails because of animals, the streets may be even more dangerous.

• Learn how far an "ultra" marathon is

It's not just 50K, if that's what you are thinking!

• Learn why you don't have to be afraid of trail running

Andy has never been injured trail running

Do you prefer running on trails, or streets and sidewalks? Do you have any interest in running an ultra marathon, or have you completed one in the past? We'd love to hear from you! If you go out for your first trail run to experience the beauty of nature, let us know! We'd love to hear your thoughts.

Tune in

Are you curious about ultra marathon running? Are you unsure how to start running on the trail? Tune into this podcast by clicking the start button on the audio player below.

You can also subscribe in iTunes

We interviewed Roger Wright for this episode of TalkJogRun. Roger lost 113 pounds in 10 months time. He is known for his inspiring video on YouTube that shows his journey to the Boston Marathon.

Roger decided to lose weight, run a marathon, and raise money for cystic fibrosis. He not only completed the Boston Marathon, but many more marathons since that time. He currently runs for the Boomer Esiason Foundation, to raise money for cystic fibrosis.

Roger's story is extremely inspiring. In this podcast, he shares his journey with us and all the ups and downs that came with it.

How has Roger's story inspired you?

I started a run streak on January 1, 2012. I made a New Years Resolution to run every single day in 2012, for at least a mile. So far, I kept the resolution and plan to see it through. I didn't make up the idea on my own. There's been plenty of runners who have been doing it for a long time. Through Twitter, using the #runstreak hash tag, I've found runners that have been running over 1000 days in a row!

I don't run outside much in the winter. I decided it was something I needed to do more of. What better way than to start a run streak?

I would definitely recommend trying a run streak. If you know you have to do something, you're more likely to do it. Exercise shouldn't be something you skip, just like you wouldn't wake up and decide you didn't feel like going to work. It must become part of you, etched in your brain. You wake up, and know you have to run that day.

It's been about ten days since my run streak began. According to my training diary, I've logged about 25 miles. That is by no means a lot of miles. The point is, I got out there and ran every day. I'm also working through the WalkJogRun Marathon Training Plan. I'm following the beginner plan, even though it's my third marathon. The plan fits well with my schedule. Right now, I plan to run the Cleveland Marathon on May 20th. I've ran the Chicago Marathon twice, and am excited to run in another city. I'll also be staying with my grandparents and visit them a bit.

Starting a run streak doesn't need to be a year long commitment. Start with a weekly goal. Move up to a thirty day goal. I'm sure you'll see the health benefits if you don't workout too often. I've noticed that I go longer than I planned if I feel good once I'm out there. I may not have known I'd feel good running if I didn't get out there! There's been plenty of times I didn't feel like running, got outside, and felt great. Let's not forget the endorphins!

WalkJogRun On Air

Adam, Jeff, and I came up with the idea to start recording podcasts on the run. These podcasts will be called WalkJogRun On Air, a different version of TalkJogRun, since they're recorded while running. I'd love to go for a run with you and talk about life, running, or your story! If you need someone to run with, and you are in the Chicago area, I'd love to accompany you! Let's try to reach our running goals together! Email me!

Benefits of Starting a Run Streak

• Endorphins
• Possible higher mileage
• Discipline
• More inspiration to run a race
• The more you run, the better chance you have for weight loss

What are your goals for 2012? Do you think you'd want to try a run streak? Have you tried one in the past? I'd love to hear your tips! Comment below and share them with us!

As it starts getting colder outside, I shudder thinking of the snow that will inevitably cover the ground in just a month or so from now. I am excited for Thanksgiving and the holiday season, which also means some extra calories coming in from food I love and normally don't get to eat. To this situation, I would normally say "well, just go run more." However, with cold temperatures only getting colder, I'd be lying to say my fitness routine isn't suffering a bit.

Most people have very busy lives and this means rushing to work, school, or whatever else they have going on. I've tried getting up early to go for my run before work. However, as soon as my blanket came a little off me at 6AM, I quickly pulled it back over me; realizing how freezing it had to be outside by the temperature in my room at that hour. When I leave work, it's already dark outside and just as cold as the morning. After 5:00, I don't really feel like running anyway. I want to go home and tidy up my apartment, cook dinner or visit with my friends. These are not feelings I had before it started getting cold outside.

Somehow, I deal with this seasonal transition every year. I guess the problem I had in the past was I didn't figure out a balance. I signed up for a May Marathon last year, and didn't end up running it because of how hard I found it to train throughout the winter. When I ended up outside, I would slip on some ice, or I would be thrown off because I couldn't let myself run at pace for fear of slipping on a sheet of black ice.

This winter I am going to take a different approach. After talking with Coach Jenny last week for our podcast episode, I was inspired to figure this out. She made me realize there's nothing wrong with running on a treadmill. I am now going to join a gym. Joining a gym will have me on an elliptical or treadmill three days a week, and running outside only two days a week. The more I think about it, that's a better consistency than the two days a week of running I'm sure would have been my base all winter.

What do you do throughout the winter to stay in shape? Do you continue to run outside? Would you prefer a gym with all the amenities for a higher price, or a 24-hour basic gym for a lower price? I'd love to hear your schedules throughout the day, and how you make time for fitness! Comment below with how you fit it all in!

Greg Bruno wouldn't have believed you if you told him he would be running a marathon a year ago. His father, an avid marathon runner, called him from the Chicago Marathon expo in 2010 and told Greg he was going to run the Chicago Marathon in 2011. Greg had only just started doing a few P90X workouts and running a mile here and there after deciding he wanted to get in shape. He had never competed in any type of race before in his life.

He knew running would help get him in shape since his father has run over 28 marathons. Greg signed up to run with CARA and began following their training plan created by Hal Higdon. He was excited to begin marathon training because it was something his father did. Greg stuck to his training plan and completed his first half-marathon in April. He had a slight IT band injury at week 13, and needed to walk through many of his runs for about a week. He still got out there and completed the distance.

On October 09, 2011, Greg passed the finish line at the Chicago Marathon. Once a man who never did any type of exercise, he now plans on running two marathons a year.

Greg's favorite moment of his entire weight loss and marathon-training journey was hugging his father at the end of the marathon. Greg said, ''Giving him a hug was better than getting a medal. It meant a lot to be able to do the race together.''

I asked Greg how he stayed motivated to keep up with his runs and weight loss. He said, ''The best motivation I had was myself. I found a bad picture of myself and put it on my phone. If I ever needed motivation I looked at it and knew I had to keep going. Your main motivator is yourself.''

Since 2010 Greg has lost over 80 pounds and is now a marathon runner. When I asked Greg what caused such a dramatic weight loss, he said, ''I didn't change a whole lot of my overall lifestyle. I just watched what I ate. I didn't drink any soda or eat anywhere that had a drive through. Those things [along] with the running really helped.''

Greg has some great motivation for new runners, ''Even though every step is difficult at first, it gets easier and those steps get less and less difficult. If you set little goals, you can finish them.'' He shared his favorite quote with me, ''There will come a day when you can no longer do this, and today is not that day.'' This quote has been quite a motivator for him as well.

How do you stay motivated with fitness and exercise? We'd love to hear your tips!

How many of you run for the joy of it or to actually beat a record? When it comes to marathon running, I have always judged my performance on how I feel and whether I finished. I may get upset with myself if I know I haven't followed my training plan and end up with a "bad time." But overall, when it comes to marathon running, simply finishing is quite a feat.

Non-runners are impressed simply by the idea of running 26.2 miles. It doesn't matter what your finishing time was! The only critic, I realize, is myself. Many runners want to achieve the prestige that comes with qualifying for Boston. I never had that as the goal of my training before. Perhaps it could be that I know I am over an hour slower than even coming close to this accomplishment.

I run marathons and love the connection I have with an elite marathoner. I may not be as fast as he or she, but I still ran the same distance. In high school I used to get mad if I didn't beat my PR every race. In marathon running, the distance is so far that every finish is memorable and noteworthy. Many months go into training, and with every medal comes the memories from that training season.

Running, to me, is simply something I do. Nothing else makes me feel so healthy and part of an amazing group of people. I worked at the Fox Valley Marathon Expo this weekend with Adam and Briana and met so many inspiring people. I loved hearing from beginner runners just getting involved in the running community. It was also moving to talk to those who have always been runners. I loved seeing families come through with their children. I had a glimmer of myself, ten years from now, still running marathons and attending these expos.

This weekend, I became obsessed with those I talked to who had to stop and think when I asked them "How many marathons have you ran?" I have decided that instead of a time goal, mine is to get to the point where I need to think about how many marathons I have run before answering. To me, the marathon is not about the time, but the experience.

All of the people at the expo were connected by the running phenomena. Some moms and dads shared with me how after having kids they switched from marathons to half-marathons to keep up with the demands of raising children. Others shared how they finally convinced their spouse to start running marathons with them. Seeing all of these runners sharing their stories and coming together in one place, allowed me to see running really is something you can do for a lifetime.

Be sure to check out some running routes on WalkJogRun. Maybe you'll meet a fellow runner near you!

As a treat for my PR in the Wisconsin marathon 12 days ago I bought myself the Garmin Forerunner 610 to replace my trusty 5 year old Garmin Forerunner 305. I was looking forward to wearing a watch vs a brick, reduced heart rate spikes and more fun, not to mention the 305 "menu" button was starting to fail... However, my first run out on Tuesday was a little disappointing.

Prior to the race I knocked out 5 mile easy runs at a pace of between 8:10 and 8:30 with a heart under 142 beats per minute. Last Saturday (one week after the marathon) I went out for a 3 mile recovery run and came in at 7:51 for the 3.2 miles with an average heart rate of 142 - all seems to be going smoothly with my recovery.

On Tuesday (10 days after the marathon) I donned my newly acquired 610 and hit the path for a 5 mile recovery run. Based on my recently discovered heart rate reserve I wanted to keep my heart rate under 142 and set a heart rate alert and configured the watch "pages" to show all manner of info but I was very interested in the lap and average %HRR stats.

50 yards down the road the alert started screaming at me. No stranger to heart rate spikes on the 305 I assumed it was something similar but the heart rate on the display wasn't in the 200s but a more reasonable 156. Huh. I carried on and gradually decreased my pace and the heart rate started to drop too. I switched to the lap screen I'd configured but both the average and lap heart rates showed a blank. I had entered my resting heart rate so for now I'd carry on without it.

5 miles later I came back to the house and based on my vibrating, beeping task master's instructions I had slowed down my pace for the whole run to 9:03 for a 139 average. Not terrible but certainly not where I expected to be based on past performance. No temperature variations between today and the past few runs bar a degree or two. It must be the watch. My Garmin 305 must have been failing and mislead me as to my actual heart rate. I showered and grumpily headed into work. Would I have to run this slow in all my future training easy runs? Had I been training to hard and stayed healthy out of sheer luck? Should I say heart rate training be damned and just run my ass off and not worry about the workout prescriptions?

Hours later I felt pretty good for a 5 mile morning and as the coffee started to kick in my scientific mind found a solution.

This morning (Thursday - marathon + 12) I ran another 5 mile run, the same course, same temperature, same time of day as Tuesday (and for arguments sake not far from Saturday's fast run either) but this time armed with both Garmins and a heart rate strap dedicated to each. I concluded that if they differed, I had a problem and would need more data. It hadn't occurred to me that they might agree...

For the sake of scientific disclosure the 305 is running the 2.90 firmware, the 610 is running 2.20.

The green shaded cells show where the Garmin 610 was at least 1% higher than the 305 for a value, the red where the 610 was at least 1% lower than the 305 for a value.

The charts below are the result of overlaying Garmin 610 data on top of the 305 chart from Garmin Connect. For the most part they concur with the exception of a large heart rate spike on the 305 at the start and an off the chart pace of 1:48 at the end of the timing chart.

Analysis

The time difference vs. moving time is because 610 was also on auto pause. Despite stopping and starting both watches the 610 still auto paused and resumed after I restarted the timer when the traffic lights changed along the way, hence average pace was also off.

The overall moving time difference was negligible with the only difference probably due to not being able to start and stop each watch at the same time.

The average moving pace was also within my 1% limits - 1 second difference so no problems there.

The best pace for lap 5 on the 610 was a crazy 1:58 per mile spike not picked up by the 305 but the impact on average moving pace was too small to push the lap average in the wrong direction. The only big moving pace difference was lap 2 where 610 showed 8:52, 305 showed 8:45.

I was delighted to see my average heart rate on both devices didn't vary by more than 1% either way as I first thought it was at least 10 beats per minute off based on my first run.

The max HR was different by 9 beats per minute but I'm not surprised given the different profiles of the heart rate spike at the start of the run. The 610 appears to be better at handling HR spikes.

The calorie calculation seems very different at 648 on 610 vs 721 for the 305 despite identical weight data. I'm not too concerned though as I would expect the newer technology to be more precise.

Summary

The things I care about HR, average moving pace, distance, moving time on the 610 were all within 1% of the 305 so I'm happy that the watches are comparable in terms of data accuracy (relatively speaking). The differences that do exist don't impact my running. I also discovered that the reason the heart rate reserve didn't show on Tuesday was because even though I entered my resting heart rate I still had it calculate my heart rate zones by max heart rate. Why this would control whether or not to calculate heart rate reserve is beyond me but switching it to %HRR for zone calculations fixed it.

Don't shoot the messenger

So my theory about the 610 over-reporting my heart rate was proved to be false. It's me who is defective ;-) I'll need to run a follow-up experiment to prove this but a couple of new theories to test are:

• Running in the morning vs. afternoon. I ran a lot of evening runs pre-marathon but the morning ones were still faster than this but I'm willing to test it out.
• The addition of orange juice to my coffee and oatmeal breakfast before I run. I read in Pete Pfizinger's Advanced Marathoning that drinking orange juice with your morning oatmeal instead of coffee results in 3 times as much iron being absorbed by your body. I added the orange juice to my morning ritual with a delay on the coffee, but still drinking it (can't skip that part of my day). Could it be that my body is just too busy using heart rate cycles on my digestion?
• The amount of time between finishing breakfast and running. Similarly to point two - I used to give myself about an hour between breakfast when I ate in the morning and running but with my new schedule with the twin girls I tend to sit in the nursery with them eating my breakfast and playing with them while my wife gets ready. I need to try to eat earlier before heading into the nursery to see if that makes a difference.

If all of these prove inconclusive it could just be that I am still recovering from the marathon 12 days ago and my body is communicating through my heart rate. I certainly feel fresher training at 70% of my heart rate reserve than I remember before the marathon on my recovery runs. It will be interesting to see if the rest of the hard works still get me where I want to be. I *feel* like I should be running faster but only the results will tell! I'll follow up with more of my experiment results.

Today was my annual running breakdown. I pushed my Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday workouts back one day each meaning today and tomorrow make it 5 day straight without rest.

I woke up at 6am and fought the idea of running for 15 minutes before heading out. As soon as I started running I felt dreadful - dead legs and no enthusiasm at all. Usually this passes after a mile or so but today was different and a classic sign of over-training. I hit the lakefront (here in Chicago) at around 1.5 miles in and found some inspiration when I saw the sun hanging low, bright orange over the lake as it began it's hike across the sky.

The usual path was too familiar so I decided to try to distract myself and took a detour along Montrose beach past the bird sanctuary all the way to the end of the pier at Montrose Point. The scenery was just perfect as the low sun lit up the buildings along the lake front and the trees at the edge of the beach. As I turned around I saw what has to be the most perfect view of downtown Chicago as the sun worked it's magic reflecting off the tall skyscrapers. The route is here "Scenic 8 miler".

I reached my 4 mile mark according to my Garmin so turned around and headed back home. Instantly my mood dipped again and as soon as I hit the familiar part of my route I switched back to grumbling and complaining to myself about how hard this all is and how little fun I was having.

Running the 1.5 miles along Foster Avenue back to the apartment was tough. The traffic, the traffic lights, the pedestrians, everyone was a target for my mental grumbling. It was only in the last half mile that it dawned on me - I've run around 450 miles since June so it's no wonder I'm tired!

I got back and told my wife about my little breakdown and she reminded me it was this time last year at the same stage in my training that I hit the same breakdown. The spring vanishes from my step as I get one week out from the peak week of training and the visions of running through the fall and winter to hit another marathon or two disappear in negative thoughts.

I looked at my logs for the 14 weeks of marathon training and got the confirmation about what I've achieved so far. I've logged 439.79 miles in 14 weeks. At a 9:14 average that's 67.6 hours of running and, for my weight, around 68,000 calories. For some perspective that translates to around 19 pounds! I've climbed over 24,000 feet based on elevation change and lost 14 pounds!

If you don't keep a diary of your training, I recommend you start. Be it in a spreadsheet, a log book, online or even sending yourself emails it's a crucial training tool to remind yourself of your accomplishments from time to time. Days like today come and go and you're not alone - it happens to every runner who follows a challenging training program. It felt awesome to tell the clerk at the Drivers License renewal facility I'm 14 pounds lighter than my last license and when she said "you're turning 35? You don't look that old" I nearly kissed her. Running is hard but it's rewarding and worth every minute.