Maintaining a regular running schedule is hard enough, but throw in some parties, shopping, food preparation, out-of-town guests, and other holiday craziness, and it may seem near impossible to find time for runs. Follow these tips to make sure you keep running during the holiday season:
Schedule your runs and make sure others know you schedule.
Your calendar gets more packed during the holiday season, but you should try to make running a priority. Take a look at your week and write down when you think you’ll be able to squeeze in runs, just like you would other appointments. If you have runs scheduled, you’re more likely to get them done.
Don’t let cold weather be an excuse.
Running can be enjoyable in the colder weather, as long as you’re prepared with the proper winter running clothes. If you don’t have the proper clothing that can be gift requests and help you to keep from missing your runs.
Be prepared with an alternative workout you can do inside and at home:
Crunches, push-ups, and many other exercises can be done without any gym equipment. Running up and down the stairs is a great cardio workout.
Be flexible with your training schedule:
Your days get busier during the holiday season, so you may need to make changes to your regular running routine. If you normally run after work, but you have a holiday party to attend in the evening, wake up an hour early and go for a run before work.
Some running is a lot better than no running:
Prepare to be flexible about the time and distance of your runs, too. Remember that a 20-minute run is better than skipping your run altogether, so don’t miss your run just because you won’t have time to run what you had originally planned. Even doing a very short run will help you maintain your running habit through the holidays.
Don’t quit because you miss one run:
Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t have time or energy for a run. Just because you missed a run, don’t use it as an excuse to throw in the towel and forget about your workout plans during the holiday season. Get right back with your program, forget about your missed run, and move on. You can not make up your training. So don’t over do it because you miss a run stay on schedule as much as possible.
Work on other parts of training:
You could use this time to spend more time stretching or using your trigger point equipment. If it’s snowing outside where you are try snow shoeing or sledding but run back up the hills. Sometime you need to be extra creative.
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