to feel like I really can't be arsed to for a "run"?

[YourHandInMyHand]

I use the word run in the loosest sense, it will be a slow jog at best.

I got to the end of week 2 of couch to 5K and hurt my leg and I just can't get back into it now! I know I need to, but I just cannot be bothered.

If you are a regular exerciser HOW do you motivate yourselves? After work, DS, housework, etc I just can't find the motivation.

Do it in the morning if you can. You will feel so much happier getting it out of the way. You'll be proud and energised and you won't have the cloud of it hanging over you, you won't periodically think 'oh maybe I won't bother' or 'I'll go tomorrow'.

Tell yourself you only have to get in shape for July 4th. Then review whether you like running and want to continue or if actually you'd like to swim. You've got a challenge, you've got a date and you can work towards it. It's achievable. If you do it. Now FGS RUN. GO. THIS INSTANT. We will expect you back here shortly.

YANBU, when I get in after a long day I just want to veg out in front of the TV and eat. I had a brief spell of jogging last month and went three times but I'm so unfit it made me feel awful! I need a shot of motivation too!

I'll do it with you (virtually). Unless I get up at 5 am, the evenings are the only time when I can actually go out and exercise. I'm not ready to run yet, I'm walking (albeit at a fast pace). I'm sat on the settee right now with dd and I cba. But, I'm going. As soon as I've put dd to bed I'm going to do my 3 miles. Then I'm going to have a hot bath and get into my pj's ready to watch game of thrones.

I prioritise pretty well everything before housework, it must be said.

If you prefer swimming, though, do that. Or mix the two.

I admire the motivated on this thread!

Op... I started with c25k,ran race for life thought sod it, I'll enter London marathon ballot, thought I'd never get a place!

Then I got a 'you're in' magazine! So I had to bloody train for it!! Hated the training and loved the marathon, but I don't feel much like a runner

Well don't then. No one is going to give you a gold medal if you do and the jogging police are not going to arrest you if you don't.

I've come to the conclusion that I don't like running. My boobs are to big and I look like an idiot. I like swimming but can't go 3 times a week. Luckily my best friend feels the same so we just drink wine.

I do it first thing in the morning at 530am before work. I get up and just start. I find I'm so groggy to begin with I'm not really sure what I'm doing, half an hour in I feel great and am so glad i made the effort! On the odd occasion I've tried to do it in the evenings I just can't motivate myself. I build it up all afternoon in my head and find reasons not to.

m0therofdragons I like your attitude.

Running is dull. It really and truly is. The peripheral things are great, but actually running is dull. I only get through it by:

Running somewhere scenic so I can at least appreciate the beautiful world in which I live
Planning something inside my head while I'm running like Christmas themes or writing the next chapter of my book or making up stories about the people I pass
Having an actual goal at the end of it so I can feel I've achieved something
Pretending I'm about to come first in a marathon and using the cheers of the imaginary crowd to spur me on
Rewarding myself afterwards

And not just one of those things. ALL of those things every time I go out for a bloody fucking run.

I wish I could buy into that enjoy the burn of your lungs, the pounding of your heart, the rush of endorphins, the rhythmic staccato beat of your strong, capable feet as you power through another PB crap. I don't though.

I restarted the C25K a couple of weeks ago. I completed it in Nov 2013, did a twilight race for life at about week 7 of the programme and moved onto the stepping stones podcasts. All going really well. And then I just stopped. It was a combination of family stuff, work and bad winter weather and it was all too much.

I absolutely regretted not keeping it up. I'm not a natural runner (using the word loosely ) but it is the one form of exercise I enjoy. Although sometimes I only enjoy it after I've done it! The final push I needed to get going again was going on hols during May half term and seeing the early morning joggers out. I should have been out there too.

I agree with saul. The 4th July isn't that far off. Just keep on with the C25K programme until then to get you through the race for life. Would you be at about week 5 then? You could use the race as the week 5 run 3 'biggie'. If you don't like it after that then find something else!

OP i am exactly the same! Had the same reasons for wanting to start running and booked race for life week after you. Was actually getting into it then on week two i injured my knee. Mostly seems ok noe but still get some pain. But i just can't be arsed anymore! My motivation has gone. I am 40 in a couple of years and really wanted to run a race (and get fitter/ lose weight) but now i just think i only have a month beforee race day and do not even want to do it unless i can run all the way round and obviously not time to complete couch to 5k before race day so just think sod it! I know it's a lousy attitude but can't seem to find my mojo again!

I use running as a way to get out the house and feel my body moving but I've not been for about 6 weeks now. It's so hard to get the motivation when you get out of the habit.
The only way I can get back into it is if I find some new music that gets me pumped and then I use running as an excuse to listen to it.

Doing classes at the gym has really given me my exercise mojo back.

It helps me that they are at set times- which is ironically why I have never been to classes before, despite going to the gym 4-5 times a week for 12 years!

I do a real mixture of things, and suddenly exercise doesn't feel like a chore any more! I did Zumba this morning, fantastic, much better than being bored on the crosstrainer or treadmill, and a great cardio workout too.

I really had got to the point where I was having to drag myself to the gym, now I am raring to go, even on a lovely sunny day.

Decent running music and the remembering how much I spent on a sports bra for the giant norks keeps me motivated!

This would have been me 18 months ago.
I started doing classes at gym and he become hooked .
I do have an addictive personality admittedly.
I do an hours class 5 times a week, combination of HIIT, meta fit, insanity, kettle bell, pilates and dance.
I also run couple of times a week, only for about 40 minutes and a bit of that us fast walking.
Am lucky to live pretty rurally with canal towpath and bridle ways around so can admire the views whilst out!
I think the more you do, the more motivated you become.
I never regret going, I try and go week day day time or early at weekends as I like to be solitary

I love running and run almost every day - I get twitchy if I don't - but it's taken me a long time to get here.

Two main tips:

1. You don't have to want to do it, just do it. Tell yourself that you'll come home after 5 mins if you're not enjoying it. You won't. This especially works well first thing in a morning, and if you've laid your running kit out the night before. If the kit is ready, you've committed to it.

2. Get dumped in the middle of nowhere. This worked for me when I was marathon training. If we'd been out for the day, I'd pop my running kit on and then get DH to stop the car to abandon me 8/10/15/whatever miles from home. When you've got no cash and no way to get home but your own two feet, that's a damn good incentive!

Seriously though, what you're doing now is the tough bit. The hardest bit of my running "career" was going from zero to running 5k.

From 5k it was a bit tough to get to 10k, but nowhere near as hard as getting going in the first place. And stepping up from 10k to a half marathon is an absolute breeze!

Doing a marathon was tough, but frankly I'd rather do it six times in a row than go through labour with DS again.

Good luck!

I like motivational sayings:

However slow you go, you're still lapping the folk on the couch.

Future you says thanks.

You don't get what you wish for, you get what you work for.

You can be sore tomorrow, or sorry tomorrow. You choose.

These are some of my current favourites :)

Ha, see Runningupthathill82 is rather go through childbirth 6 times over than run another marathon.
I loved the training, it was my escape from grief but the actual day was mentally brutal.
I do love running though, I miss getting our on a Saturday morning for 15-16 miles and watching the sunrise. That ache in the bones after is magic.

Just walk instead, it's much nicer. I've gone from around 16 mins/mile to 13 min/mile (some at 12.5). Every time I start C25K I hurt myself.

I think a lot of people responding here haven't read the OP's post properly. Its no good advocating running in the morning, or doing gym classes in tne dsy, because the OP says she works.

I'm sure it's very easy to motivate yourself to exercise if you've got loads of time, but the OP says that she is exhausted after work, sorting out her ds and housework.

OP, you don't say if you're a SP, in which case it will be even harder. I dont think you should be too tough on yourself. I find exercising really hard to fit in as I work full time and don't feel like it in the evenings.

What works for me currently is being signed up to three different fitness classes per week. So I know I need to be at the gym at 8pm and fit my evening around that. Doing different sorts of claases makes it more interesting. However, our dc are older teens so we don't have go be as hands-on in the evenings.

Wnen the dc were smaller, dh and I used to go to a circuit traing class together. We would pay a babysitter and spend an hour at the gym followed by a coffee. It was often the only time during the week that we saw each other! Obviously that has a cost implication though.

I would also say, if you dong like running then don't do it and find an alternative way of keeping fit. I hate running and refuse to do it, but can happily walk or cycle for miles.

Goodness Primal, I don't run much faster than that!

I'm on the second day of wk 3 couch to 5k. I like the challenge of getting to the next week and I'm sadly excited about getting to week 4 because it's the start of more running. I like the fact that you're forced your rest days too because I feel no pressure to try to get to the gym on those days - i work 24 hours a week and only have childcare for those hours. I find that the programme itself is motivation enough. I do it at a gym though, on a treadmill, and think I'd find the though of running outside a little less appealing!

I think various people have already said the key things which help me exercise:

1. Don't think about it. Put your gear on and just get out the door and run. Thinking is running suicide.
2. Find some music which is roughly the same beat as your gait. Running in time helps you find your rhythm.
3. If you have big norks, get an Enell bra. Hideous and hideously expensive but those babies are going nowhere in an Enell.
4. Try loads of different exercise. Actually, do loads of different exercise. The variety keeps your mind active and your muscles guessing.
5. If you don't have time for the gym, stream YouTube to your TV and do a workout which is the right length for the time you've got (god I love technology).

As PP have said, the key for me has been planning my runs - so writing in the diary and they become an appointment. And first thing. I'm out by 5.15 at the moment. Partly logistics - we both work and I can't go in the evenings, but also it's done and dusted by 6.15am. I have a coffee and some water, mess around on Strava for 15 minutes, then into the shower and on with the day.

Also - have a 10k signed up for in September. Already thinking beyond that for motivation. A half marathon in April/May I think.

I graduated C25K on 20 May. Running has changed my life. Perhaps a bit dramatic, but it has shifted how I see myself and what I'm capable of. I always thought I couldn't run, and seemingly I can!

And yy to feeling fit and strong. I had an epiphany about how I have neglected my body for so long and now I've asked it to step up to running 4 times a week and my body has done it!

Oh - and podcasts. I listen to woman's hour. Not everyone's cup of tea but music didn't do it for me. I also have some TED talks lined up.