At any given time, a percentage of runners will be suffering from a not so uncommon running malady, loss of their running mojo, the state of being without motivation, of feeling more like sitting than running. This is serious but not uncommon.
I’ll tell you this: As a longtime coach, I’ve seen this many times. The good news is that it’s never ever fatal, but the bad news is that it can go on for weeks or months, and if it goes untreated, it can be permanent. Yep. Some people never return; they actually cease to be runners. This is tragic, but not to worry. I’ve got twenty recommendations, and if one doesn’t work, you’ve got 19 more. Seriously, that’s like 20 different medications.
If you’re having motivation problems, start with #1 and go down the list.
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If you haven’t run off road – or on trails – I hope this episode will convince you to give it a try. I explain the many of excellent reasons why you should run trails, and I explain how to get started.
Most runners want to get faster. Not everyone can afford to hire a coach, and not everyone has time to train for a marathon, but most runners hope to set new PR’s on a regular basis. This is absolutely possible, but you need to know how to direct your time. Most people have full-time jobs. You probably do, or you’re a full-time parent. Your time is limited; so, you need to know the best most efficient way to spend your running training time. 
It’s the little things that often have the greatest impact, and so it is with the concept of focusing on the fact that when running, you are always, 100 percent of the time, putting the full weight of your body on just one foot or the other. Oddly, you don’t hear much about this, and if you go to the gym, you’ll notice that most people are doing exercises with both feet firmly planted on the floor. 
We all think of ourselves as intelligent runners, of course, but even the most experienced, veteran runners sometimes lose sight of the wise and effective path to their goals. Why does this happen? I think because we get caught up in the here and now, the ‘today,’ instead of keeping our eyes on the long term goal, not just our long term running goals but sometimes even our life goals. Yes, running can sometimes distract us from our most far-reaching life goals. That’s bad, but on the flip side, running can make us into the person we need to be to achieve those goals, right?
If, where you live, it gets cold in the winter – and I mean cold – then you’re probably just coming into the time of year when you need to make accommodations to be able to run outside, safely and comfortably.
If you’re running a 5k on up to a half marathon, hydration matters, but it’s not terribly tricky. The focus should be on making sure you consume enough fluids to prevent dehydration,but if you’re out there for several hours – or a lot more – you need to be even more concerned about avoiding over hydration, also known as hyponatremia. Hence the Goldilocks Principle. 
