Summary: Do you sometimes find yourself in a funk? Do you struggle with the deep down desire to train, but maybe just feel "bleh", or feel like skipping workouts? Even worse, maybe you have found yourself in a cycle where you start running only to just walk away from it for weeks or months at a time before getting started again.<br> <br> Well, Sarah, a RunBuzz community member, has found herself in this exact situation and on more than one occasion. In this post I share some practical steps to digging yourself out a running funk and some tips on how to avoid it in the future. All this and more on today's episode..<br> <br> I am excited to be talking about this topic, because it is one that I have struggled with on more than one occasion and one that I believe is pretty common amongst not only runners, but all people. We all go through periods of being in a rut, or funk, whether it be in our careers (been there, done that), our relationships (been there, done that) or our well being (been there, I got the trophy). Its a topic that I just did not feel right responding by email because I knew I could not get into the detail that was needed.<br> <br> Sarah writes ...<br> <br> <br> How do you continuously stay motivated and get out of a funk when you get into a funk?<br> <br> I'll go through spurts and just quit running all together. It is usually before I have signed up for a race. I was signed up for my first half marathon in March and just up and quit running three to four weeks before the race. I finished the race at 2:59, but was miserable. I signed up for the 15k Boilermaker that was last weekend and backed out because I was not prepared as I had quit running for months. I am signed up for my next half marathon on 10/19/14 and just started a training plan this week. So far so good...but I am only three days into the training. What are your suggestions?<br> <br> <br> <br> The first step in figuring out why we fall into a funk with our running is to do a little self analysis. We need to take an honest look at ourselves and see what things are contributing to this situation as well as identify some actionable things we can do to get out of a funk and prevent it.<br> <br> Sometimes, just a few simple changes can snap us out of a funk and get us back on track, but other times it may require a lot of work. It can be a difficult road sometimes and sometimes we need the help of others to pull us out.<br> <br> A couple of things I would like to call out One is expectation. I do not believe it is possible to feel motivated to run 100% of the time. Some days it will feel like a grind to get out the door, other times it will be an enjoyable experience. When this happens, you need to be aware of it and aware that this is a normal feeling. Its part of being human and having these things called, emotions. But when a lack of motivation turns into days, weeks or months then what we have is a situation that is more chronic than just motivation or emotions.<br> <br> Ultimately what we are trying to get to is positive momentum, success, and then forward progress leads to more momentum. Once established, momentum is easier to maintain and can help prevent us from falling into a rut or pull us out of one.<br> <br> So how do we get out of a running funk?<br> <br> 1) First, start with your daily, life habits<br> <br> * What is your daily stress level like? Stress can be incredibly tiring and over time stress hormones can physically and mentally wear you down.<br> * Are you going to bed at a decent hour? How is your sleep? Most of us get WAY too little sleep and many of us even have undiagnosed sleep issues.<br> * Are you eating well and keeping your blood sugars stable? Try switching to smaller, more frequent meals, drink more water and start eating breakfast.<br> * Get a blood test and look for nutrient deficiencies. For example,
