tiart: motivation tips & tricks

i always read many of your posts participating in take it and run thursday (tiart) put on by runner's lounge, but have yet been able to join in and instead try to leave comments on each of your tiart insightfulness. for the past few weeks and many upcoming, tom and amy have turned the tables and opened up the job of tiart host. i eagerly accepted, excited to finally get to play along and hoping to start a routine of participating. hey, with weeks of notice, surely i could be on the ball for my own tiart right?

you've probably noticed the recent "case of the mondays" here in lindsay land. for the past few weeks, i've struggled on some individual runs as well as entire weeks of mileage. with the opportunity to solicit advice from the running experts through hosting tiart, i took my recent frustrations and opened them to the running-blog world --

whether training for a specific race or just running for the fun of it, we all experience the ups and downs of running. what do you do to get yourself motivated to run when it feels like it's the last thing you want to do?

lately in my own running journey, i have had a huge deficiency of mojo. some days are fine and the run is good, but others are completely depressing. i've tried a few different tips and tricks that have worked in the past to try and jump-start myself again. my next marathon is two months away and i'm starting to worry.

what do i do when the motivation is running low?

• toughen up. i'm sure some days i'm just feeling lazy and need to buck up and get the job done! this is probably my first line of defense - i head out to get the miles in knowing that the run usually turns out decently.
  
• pump up with some upbeat jams before the run. after a long day at work, i'm not always in a running-mood and an hour long commute doesn't help. i often use the commute time to indulge my inner hip-hop backup dancer and shoulder shake my mind into wanting to run. (there are only so many dance "moves" i can do in the car)
• compromise. i'll tell myself i can swap the day's workout with tomorrow's or i'll allow myself to cut the mileage short. most of the time my mood picks up once i'm out there and the endorphins are flowing.
  
• rest. sure i might still feel guilty about it and beat myself up a little, but occasionally i give myself the day off. i believe that lack of motivation is sometimes the body's way of telling you it needs a break. this would probably be more effective if i didn't guilt trip myself over it.

the problem for me is that these mind-tricks haven't completely pulled me out of my motivation-rut yet! i'm interested to know what you all do when you just "aren't feeling it".

what are your personal motivational tricks? have a good pump-up song to share? comment below or join in the tiart fun with a post of your own.

as part of hosting tiart, here's a small glimpse into the places and races i run!