I woke up today and thought today I'm going to go for a run. I'm motivated but I didn't go WHAT HAPPENED?

It hasn't been 3 hours since I last ate or I ate too much - This is easily combated, this falls down to your organisation and commitment. Simply make sure you eat at the right time so that your planned run falls 3 hours after you eat. If things such as work gets in the way and you just can't find the time to eat when you want then your not beaten for the day, you can still eat something very light, something the size of a snack bar or apple up to 30 minutes before the run if your feeling really hungry. A great thing to remember is that running helps increase your appetite and you'll be able to eat even more after you've been for a run. You'll need to eat to replenish glycogen stores in your muscles; this is best achieved within the first 2 hours after running, so make sure you eat after you've been out for a run.

I'll go tomorrow instead, I promise - procrastination this is perhaps the biggest obstacle that you'll face when you're thinking about running, the niggling thought that you can always go tomorrow. Of course you can go tomorrow but that isn't the plan, the plan is to go running today and that's exactly what you should do and then you can rest tomorrow. Being able to rest tomorrow, doesn't that sound like a great idea?

The trick to not procrastinating is to deceive the mind or to put it eloquently to slowly sway the mind into doing what you want it to do. I found one of the best ways to combat this is to simply change into your running clothes as soon as you get back home from work. Just tell yourself that you're just getting changed into them because they are very comfortable. Your naturally lazy procrastinating brain can handle that. Then comes the next step, Once you've changed tell yourself that since you've already changed you might as well go for a little walk, not a run, just a walk around the block because it's a nice day or you just feel like moving around. This will help you overcome the biggest of problems. GETTING OUT THE DOOR. Most runners said that once they are out of the door, the mind automatically goes into running mode anyway. Whilst indoors, their in lazy mode but the change is almost instantaneous. Once out the door if your brain is still a little lazy then just go for a walk around the block ideally a big block, after you've been walking for a few minutes, try gently jogging and see how you feel, you should be able to distract the mind away from lazy mode and slowly get into your running rhythm and hey presto you've just achieved your goal of the day, to go out for a run. TRY IT, IT REALLY WORKS.

I'm too stressed out, I can't go running because I've got too many things on my mind - life can sometimes get on top of you and you just don't know what to do. There are so many problems and you just can't think straight, let alone go for a run. WRONG. A survey of women runners showed that many started running because they wanted to lose weight or get fit but the same survey found that the reason why they continued running after reaching their desired weight or level of fitness was because of stress. RUNING HELPS YOU RELIEVE STRESS. People get stressed when chemicals in the body get stores, these chemicals are produced as a result of situations around you i.e. argument at work, etc. It is related to the fight or flight response when we are encountered with situations i.e. confrontations, should we stand up for our selves and fight or is it better to just walk away. Regardless of what However even after the actual situation has passes people are still feeling stressed, that is because the chemicals that were created during the fight or flight response has not been used up. The process of running helps you to use up these chemicals and also helps your mind to relax and wonder about other things, it's just something that runners naturally do when they are running. Running also triggers the body to release endorphins in the brain. These chemicals make you feel happy and good about your self. So after a run, you'll not only be less stressed out, but you'll feel good about yourself as well. So stress is not a really not to go running, it should be the very reason why you go running.

So I hope you are finally beginning to understand that the so called excuses aren't good enough to stop you from running. Running will help enhance your life all round and so may running a priority and everything else will fall into place.

For more information about running visit my website;

(www.marathon-runner.com)