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.

UsedtoBe - where did the OP say she can't run in a morning? If you work, you just get up earlier.
Don't presume that those of us who exercise have "loads of time". I have a full time job, a second job, a demanding toddler, another baby on the way, and housework etc...yes I'm busy and tired, but now I prioritise exercise I find inventive ways to fit it in.
There's nothing like going to work knowing your exercise for the day is done.
Or running to or from work, which is another way I fit it in, or doing 4/5 miles at lunchtime (I'm lucky that my workplace has showers).
There is almost always a way to make space for a run - if you're exhausted in the evenings, do it earlier in the day.
Most people who work, even in the most demanding jobs, could get up earlier, run home from work (or from the bus stop/train station) or do something on their lunch break, but most choose not to.

yourhand can you book a couple of gym classes a week? not sure if you're full time or get any spare hours in the week?

and always prioritise exercise before housework. no one ever died because they didn't iron but they did from not exercising. I'm a working lp so my housework standards are as low as they can reasonably get.

If your ds is over 7 you could do parkrun together? not sure where you are based?

If you keep trying different things you'll find something that suits you eventually.

I try to remember the feeling I have when I get in from a run. It's ace. You never, ever regret going. And it's much better than beating yourself up for not going!

Yeah, don't think about it. Just put your trainers on. That's the hardest bit, then the decision's made.

When I'm struggling with motivation I find it easier to take a step back to an easier stage. I'm an improver at running now and built up from C25k to HM within a year, but I still use the C25k podcasts to talk me through something attainable when my mind is struggling to do it myself. So maybe revisit wk1and notice some progress.

Sometimes when I get tangled in a feeling of obligation to run, banning myself for a week shifts the feeling back to a desire to run.

If I'm running first thing in the morning, changing into fresh gear at bedtime commits me and cuts procrastination in the morning.

I started C25k 10 weeks ago... Hurt my foot at W3 and had to have four weeks off but I got going again and hadn't lost much fitness (repeated W3). I did W6R3 this morning at 6am and ran for 25 mins - inconceivable 10 weeks ago.
What keeps me going? A combination of: Training for RfL in two weeks, having a few friends who are all doing C25k and we keep up with how we're all doing (competitive!); and above all being a running bore and telling people how I'm getting on so that I feel that if I don't keep going then they'll notice and be disappointed in me giving up. Threat of shame is probably my biggest driver
Like pp above, just get your kit on and go... If you stop early the world won't end, but I bet once you start you keep going!

I used to find running in the evening so hard, you're tired and just want to relax. However if you force yourself to get out even just for 15mins then you benefit from the 'glo' of feeling good about yourself. If I've gone out then I feel better than just wasting time on MN, watching telly etc once DS is in bed.
I've lost my motivation after my half marathon but signed myself up for a 10k and I know that I don't want to walk it so that's my motivation. I want to be able to run it.

You got me running. I was toying with spending my pre-work hour having a lie-in. I almost didn't open the thread, because I knew it would get me out. I opened it but almost didn't read it. The procrastination is strong in this one.

I really have to thank MMcanny - I feel the same, I can feel myself shrinking when I don't exercise. But I went for my run and now I feel all plumped up like a perfectly patted pillow

I've got a 10k in 4 weeks and I still don't know if I'll be able to run the whole thing without a bit of walking, but the Fartlek you lot have pushed me into doing today will have helped a bit.

If anyone else would like to run or jog or potter, just get your kit on, tie up your shoes, tie your hair back - do the pre-run routine and you'll find yourself out there and back before you know it - and you will feel better for having done it. (I'm on a bit of an endorphin rush, sorry if it gets a bit over-enthusiastic )

Or, everything that Silverturnip said

I'm a cometitive endurance runner and work in the industry and even I struggle to run in the evening, unless it is a race or a club meeting. In marathon/ultra training I do two runs a day, and even then I do my second one at lunchtime where possible, first one in the early morning. Everyone has different energy "tides" (for want of a better word), if yours is strongest in the morning, don't fight it, but do your exercise then. You'll feel better for it and motivation will not be so hard.
Running before breakfast does help to speed up the metabolism and actually helps more with weight loss (and with fitness gain, your muscles learn to work more efficiently without immediate glycogen accessible). Do your morning run on a glass of water, and have breakfast as soon as you get home.

Get on with it

Stop using your leg as an excuse - I have sports massage every 2/3 weeks due to aches and strains

A slightly pulled or tense calf is just a thing - you will get the odd thing now and then

Shoes on and put the door

My motivation is the never regretting it thing, even the 'bad' runs, I haven't regretted. And it's worth going if for no other reason than to escape having to spend the day tiresomely trying to justify not going in your head...

I am doing couch to 5k at the moment, just the better version, zombie couch to 5k! It is part of the Zombies, Run! game (an app you can download) and it is so much fun.

I never though I would be able to do this, I am very, very overweight and unfit. when I first went out running doing a minute was hard and now I can do 26. It is the best thing I have ever done.

For me I am in the position where I know how lucky I am to be able to go out running, for years I have been tied to the house and the children with very little freedom as both our children are autistic. My husband got made redundant and to to the children's needs increasing he has become a carer as well for the new few months so we can try and establish some stability.

This has allowed me to have outside the house hobbies for the first time in years which is great. I get up at 6.30am and do either gym or zombie run every day except Saturday. I also recently added a boxercise class on Thursday evenings.

The best tips I can think of are:

Choose an exercise you like, different things work for different people so keep trying till something clicks.
Work out which time of time of day you generally have most energy and try and fit it in then.
Find a more fun way to do things, for me zombie couch to 5k is so much more fun than regular couch to 5k. I love the story line and it keeps me motivated.
Tell people you are doing it, I put it on Facebook so now everyone asks how the runs are going. It means you can't really back out.

I think that is about all I can think of, I am still quite new at this, I am on week 7 of zombie runs, week 3 of the gym and week 2 of boxercise but it is the most I have achieved ever and more than I ever expected to achieve.

I don't post very often but wanted to thank the OP and all the posters for this thread. I was reading it last night and it made me get straight up, put my trainers on and go for a run.

I love the quote - " you don't have to feel like it, you just have to do it".

Hope you have found some motivation OP. It doesn't matter if you haven't run for ages, any running is better than no running. Good luck!

Wow so many replies! I didnt get out last night but today despite feeling crap (woke up to an infected eye) I still went swimming and did 20 lengths. So I def would say I like swimming but still find running hard.

I dont mind posters giving tips as I did ask . I cant logistically run in a morning, my only options for running are after work on days ds has gone to his dads. Yes I am a single parent to the poster who asked. DS is 10 but has autism so cant be left unsupervised and I wouldnt be able tk do park run with him in tow.

Ive given a lot of thought today to how I can fit running and other exercise into my week and hopefully have a plan. I am going to have it as a set schedule same as work/meetings/appointments as I agree I always feel good for doing some exercise afterwards.

Thanks everyone for your replies Im glad I posted.

just walk to Run 4 Life like most people do in fact just go for a nice brisk walk instead

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

I couldn't muster up the motivation to run if my life depended on it.

My way of coping with motivation is I found an activity I really like to do. I play a particular sport (which I LOVE), but it doesn't have to be a sport. As long as you like it.

If you love it, you don't need motivation. I have played when it's inconvenient, when I am poorly, any time. I need a good reason NOT to do it. it's also great the day of. I really look forward to going out and doing that activity at night.

I used to run and remember the contrast with my running days. ANY excuse to get out of running was good enough. It's raining? great, no run. It's the 25th? great, no run.

Another way I motivate myself is by standing naked in front of the mirror and shugguling my body.

Just watching and listening to the ripples of flab slap off each other is enough for me to shoehorn myself into my gear and get me out the door.

I've been a regular runner for over 30 years so get irritable if I don't get a run in. Now I'm older I run 3, maybe 4 times a week and don't stress too much if I can't be bothered to go, as I do get very tired and stiff now I've hit menopause.

However, TBH, if you asked me for advice, I'd say "don't bother with running, find a different form of exercise" - you don't have to run you know!

I'm a regular runner, I find it's one of the easiest forms of exercise to fit in around work and children as you can just go, whenever suits, though with that flexibility comes the need to motivate yourself to do it. I love running but I never want to go for a run, I know that once I've done it I will be pleased, as others said, even if it was a horrible run at the time.

Could you run at lunchtime, as a break from work? I do that a lot but I'm able to sit in my office looking like crap, so that works for me.

Distractions are really useful, music or podcasts, take your mind off the task and make it easier. Running is as much about mental attitude as physical. Running on your own is harder motivationally but this helps.

Do a run and tell yourself that means you don't have to do one tomorrow or let yourself have a treat if you do one. Also the more you do the easier it gets and then you won't dread it so much.

Foam rollers are good for helping with aches and pains.

You've done really well to start something, it's easy to get demotivated but if you can push yourself for a couple of weeks you'll start feeling the benefits and that is a huge help for keeping it up.

Good luck.