All I want to do is stop!

alereck · May 2014

I hate cardio, I implement in my strenght exercises. If you hate it, stop it.

SingingSingleTracker · May 2014

I've recently started running. About ten seconds in, maybe even five, I'm ready to stop. But I keep going, chugging along at 4.8 miles an hour. I'll start thinking, "So I'm almost at a quarter of a mile which means I am only almost 7/8 of the way through this. I really want to stop!" The entire time I'm running that's all I think about is how much I want to stop or worse, what fraction or percentage I've either ran or have left to run and how I should really just stop. I hardly even get out of breath, it's not my body, it's my mind. Is this normal? I can't possibly be enjoying myself and yet I signed up for a 5k so now I have to want to stop running for an extra 1.1 miles! That's a really long time! What sadistic part of myself enjoys doing this to me? Will it ever get better?

Pretend you're a cave woman and being chased by a T-Rex.

Or your ex.

Or you're running away from a tornado.

Or whatever form of danger to light a fire under your motivation. ;-)

If you ever allowed yourself to run long enough or hard enough for the exercise endorphins to kick in (takes about 20-30 minutes), that free high is "oh so delicious" - who on this planet would not want a piece of the free high? At least there's that...

Combine power walking with jogging. At some point, add some form of intervals. Eventually you're body and mind will adapt and believe it or not, you might start looking forward to it every now and then.

Mix it up as well with other form of cardio - biking, swimming, etc... - to help your mind understand that most all of it has some form of adaptation and in the early stages has people feeling like they want to stop.

And the more you run - the more you get to eat. :-)

ChelinIL · May 2014

About two years ago I bought an oval sticker that said, "I DON'T RUN". I hated running. I hated the way my knees and thighs felt after even a short run. I couldn't even run 1/4 rile without walking part of it or cursing the world. Running on a treadmill is the most boring thing in the world unless you at least have something to watch or listen to, or you set an "internal challenge" to show the person next to you that you can do it. (I'm secretly competitive.. haha.. and I hope my running will make them walk faster or longer.)

And, I used to use the elliptical for my fitness tests with my trainer, last time I used the treadmill. He admitted he was waiting to hear the "beep beep beep" sound of me slowing it down, but I didn't stop.

Yesterday I finished my second 5k event of the year.

Running in groups keeps me motivated. While I may get passed often, it keeps me going. And finished is exhilarating.

Are you using a Couch 2 5k planner or something like that? I had joined a triathlon training group which helped me greatly.

zoeysasha37 · May 2014

I also dislike running. I get bored with it easily. Maybe try some other stuff out to see if you find something else that you may like better.

Paizzaz · May 2014

You might find it useful to do a bit of reading on sports psychology-Runner's World has a lot about it, and it fascinates me. But the short version is, if you spend all your time thinking about how much it hurts and how much you loathe it, well, guess what? But if you take a mental turn and think positive, even very contrived "oh we are having fun now! This is great! I feel great" ... eventually, you start to believe it.

I think you should try to stick with it until you can do a good 15-20 minutes without stopping; that's where it really kicks in for me. It took a while for me, getting over that initial hump of being so untrained, but I just finished my second half, so it did take.

That said, if you really, really hate it, and can't trick yourself into liking it... find something else you do like. You'll get a lot of support for weight lifting/resistance training on these boards (I do a body weight strength routine myself), or dancing, or hiking... anything that you'll stick with.

Thank you! I did a search on running psychology and it turned up this wonderful link: http://www.runnersworld.com/race-training/tips-harness-motivation

I don't dread running, I have no problem lacing up and heading out the door. My body feels fantastic afterwards.

And as much as I might want to stop while I'm running I don't want to stop running outside of that.

3laine75 · May 2014

I hate running for the sake of it but I don't mind if it's to somewhere. So could you run to work or to your mums or whatever?

All I want to do is stop!

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