Passion For Running Part 6: Toss It Up

One of the strongest barriers you face in maintaining your passion for running is boredom. I consider it one of the strongest because it cannot be resolved by taking in more fluids, like hydration; it cannot be assuaged by eating the proper foods, like nutrition; and it cannot be ameliorated by buying better shoes, like equipment.

In other words, boredom has little tangibility: it's literally all in your head.

What does this mean? It means a runner cannot survive on running alone. To maintain your passion, you need to toss it up.

William Cowper (1731-1800), an English poet, wrote: "Variety is the very spice of life that gives it all its flavor."

In terms of real life, this couldn't be more true:

What is food without spices, seasoning?
What is a vacation without sightseeing?
What is a road trip through a desert where sand is all you see for miles?
What are brain cells and muscle tissue when denied varied stimulation?

Get the point? The answer to all is boring, uninteresting, dull, pedestrian. And, in some cases, it can result in atrophy and reduced functionality.

Imagine what havoc this type of atrophy can wreak on the determination of any seasoned runner, much less that of a novice. It doesn't support learning to have passion.

Therefore, add variety to your running, toss things up. You need to cross-train.

Instead of running every day, slowly increasing your miles or varying between long runs and intervals, throw in a day of cycling, or swimming. Add strength and weight training to your routine. If you need more challenge, combine these activities by having a day where you run and then weight train, or swim and then run.

I create a weekly schedule. In this way I know what I will do every day and where I will fit it in.

Other benefits exist.

• target different muscle groups. Swimming works the upper body; cycling works the lower body.
• increase endurance and efficiency
• reduce overuse injuries and prevent injury.

Whether to avoid boredom or to enhance endurance, cross-training is an excellent way to achieve balance in your routine, avoid injury, and move faster toward finding the passion of the better, stronger runner inside you.

For more about the benefits of cross-training, check out Eight Benefits of Cross-Training at RunnersWorld.com.