How I find motivation for running

      In this whirlpool of private experiences and philosophical thoughts, this will be something different, more lightweight. 

Sports is my passion - running, volleyball, cycling, badminton, you name it. However, I do it not just because I can. I have my goals and I work hard to achieve them, but this is the tricky part. This is where laziness comes in. I like to share my progress in social media and the response I usually get was my major inspiration to write this post. 

When I share my workout results, sometimes people leave a comment or message me saying they wish they were as motivated as I am. First of all, let's make this clear - my motivation is not a given. Just like everybody else, I have my lazy days and dozens of silly excuses in my head (it's too windy, the park might be too crowded, I have a lecture in five hours etc.). I am always on a hunt for good motivational quotes and tips and over the last couple of years I have developed a coping strategy for my laziness when it comes to sports (to tell you the truth, it's not 100% per-cent effective and will never be - after all I'm a human, not a robot).

So, here's some tips and tricks that help me stay motivated.

1. Set a goal. It can be absolutely anything from fitting into your favourite jeans that became too tight to a thigh gap, toned arms or a flat stomach. This is probably not news for you, but it really matters. However, it didn't work well for me on its own, so here's another tip from me - buy an item of clothing that will not be flattering unless you reach your goal. For example, my goal is to have a flat stomach until the middle of June, so I bought this beautiful crop top. I promised myself that even if I don't get a flat stomach, I will have to wear it at least once in June. So now, when I am all cozy in bed and I want to stay there the whole day, that's what I tell myself. Trust me, it works!

2. Earn your shopping day. I discovered this tip only a couple months ago and now I don't even know what I would do without it. I'm sure everyone knows the feeling when you see something you really like but it costs so much you would feel guilty if you bought it. So earn it! Set up a cute little jar and put some money in it after each workout. However, it is very easy to cheat here, so I would recommend to define what a "workout" is (is 20 crunches same as a 5k run?). For example, I put 10SEK (around 1€) for each workout that is no less than 25 minutes long. This has two major outcomes - you don't waste money on expensive things you don't need and it's a big pleasure to buy an expensive item you worked so hard for. 

3. Find a gym buddy. This is probably the hardest thing to do. I haven't found people motivated enough to run with me at least a couple times a week. Also, making a running schedule can be really complicated if you're both busy. However, now I know what it feels like to have a gym buddy and it's magical, especially on days when you feel really lazy. You just get up and do it, knowing that someone is counting on you. This one helped me even in my darkest times.

4. Find some motivational quotes that make you want to do a workout. These might be really cheesy, but there's something in them that gets me out of bed and into my running shoes. They're very personal and what works for me might not work for you. I usually find them on WeHeartIt. Here are some of my favourites at the moment:

And (surprise surprise) Ryan Gosling

So, that is all I have to share with you for now. Writing this type of blog posts is new for me, but I enjoyed it. If you would like me to talk more about sports, workouts and my lifestyle, let me know and I'll see what I can do :)

Summer pleasures that prevent from writing

Summer is at its hottest, friends and love is all around, the food is always fresh, the volleyball is on nearly every day, and the water is bearable as well. The adventures are calling one after another and there's no such thing as using the computer for more than one hour a day anymore. Sweden looks far behind me, and I am far from longing to go back there. Well, I miss my friends a lot, but they are not actually there right now, so it doesn't really count. I've been up to so much lately, but, I must admit, I did not write. What motivated me to come back to it was the first payment I have ever received for writing ^^ So I am back again and I will try to come up with new ideas to write on and avoid making such long breaks in writing. I start to miss it very fast :3

Sports challenges

So, as I wrote before, I am currently working on two sports challenges: squats and crunches.
To be honest, I have dropped the squat challenge and settled at the number of 50-100 squats a day, depending on how I feel and how much I run. One more thing: starting from the 1st of June, until the 18th of June when I will be going home, I promised myself I'll go running every single day, no matter the weather. So far, I have only been running 3.5 kilometers a day, but I am seriously planning on coming back to 5 kilometers in a couple of days. So, this is the main reason why I quit squatting to the schedule - when I had to do 160 and even more, it got too much, so my legs would shake and the muscles would get extremely tense when I was running. Anyways, even though it is not so intense anymore, I haven't given it up :)
About the crunches: I just did 115 and that looks really good so far. The number is still growing day by day, but since my legs have nothing to do with it, I have no right to complain :)

So, to sum up, my daily routine has to do a lot with sports. It has gotten pretty intense lately, and takes quite a lot of time by the way, but, since I can see the summer at home coming, it keeps me motivated and happy :)

Doing my abs (crunches)

So, besides starting the squats challenge, I also started another one. This time, crunches. So far, I have been doing it for 13 days as well, but it is not as difficult as squatting. Firstly, the numbers aren't that big, and, secondly, I have worked hard on my abs before, by doing a challenge that involved doing 100 of them in one go, everyday, for two weeks. So, the fact that I'll have to do 90 of them today doesn't look so scary. Even if you do not have any experience in this, but you want to get started right off, I suggest that you take this. However, if you want a smooth start, I can upload a lot of different workout plans :) So, I'll get back to this when it overcomes 100.

Sports challenges: keep it low (squats)

So, as I mentioned before, I've been trying quite hard to get fitter and improve my physical state, or, in other words, to get ready for the summer. I have found a lot of tips and tricks on the internet, which also involved different kinds of sports challenges. So, I found a series of those monthly challenges. They contain only one kind of exercise, but as you move on with it, you have to do more and more of it. So, although it's recommended to take only one of them at a time, I started off with two, and I am going to comment gradually on how I am doing with both of them. The one I begin with is the monthly squat challenge. I have been squatting for 13 days now, and I really feel it's getting very difficult. It's been 130 squats in one go for today. Quite a workout actually.