How to Have Fun on Every Run (Even the Tough Ones!)

Running can be...monotonous.  The same trail run, the same pace on the treadmill, the same routine over and over again can get...well...boring.  So how can you have fun on every single run you do (even the ones that are challenging, difficult, even excruciating?).  We’ve got the four best ways to stay positive, happy and challenged during every single run you do while you train for Ruckus:

Give yourself a challenge

Have you been running at a 6.0/mile pace on the same 3-mile route for a few weeks now?  No wonder you’re bored—you’re not challenging yourself!  Hard work doesn’t just make you fitter, it makes you happier, too.  In a 2011 study conducted by scientists at the Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences in the UK, recreational runners who rated their enjoyment after a steady 50-minute run weren’t nearly as exhilarated than with their performance at a higher intensity.

How can you challenge yourself?  Try mixing a few sprints into your normal run.  This simple change of pace can help you accomplish the challenge you need. 

Run with friends

Although many runners enjoy the peaceful, serene solo run, it’s important to run with friends and family too.  Running with others provides greater satisfaction with exercise, increased motivation to reach goals and greater consistency to perform.

Give yourself a reward

A run will feel even more satisfying when there is a reward involved.  If you hold a certain pace, reward yourself with a yummy dinner.  If you run the furthest you ever have without stopping, treat yourself with a massage the next day.  Give yourself incentives and you’ll find running to be even more fulfilling and more fun.

Switch up the course

If you run the same course over and over again, your brain will no longer be stimulated and your body will no longer be challenged.  Every so often, opt for a different course—explore new trails, drive out to the countryside or discover a new neighborhood.  Find your route using MapMyRun.com beforehand so you know exactly where you’re going.

Make running fun again!  Give these four tips a shot and you’ll not only get in Ruckus shape, but you’ll smile while doing it. 

Ruckus St. Louis Training Guide: 40 Days Out

Believe it or not, Ruckus St. Louis is only 40 days away. Are you doing everything you can to prepare for this year’s craziest, muddiest and most challenging obstacle course yet? Or are you sitting on the couch, eating potato chips and saying, “I’ll start tomorrow?”

Forty days isn’t a lot of time to build your endurance up, but it is long enough to train your body for the Ruckus Heater and the RuckusChallenge. If you start today, your endurance will be increased by the time Ruckus St. Louis begins on May 5^th. But how can you build your endurance up in just 40 days?

It’s time to begin your Ruckus training! Here’s what we recommend 40 days out from competing in Ruckus:

Slower-paced, longer runs

Start off training by incorporating long, slower runs into your regimen this week. Try to build up the distance toward the middle of the week (Run 2 miles Monday, 3 miles Tuesday and break Wednesday), then go backwards for the rest of the week (Run 3 miles Thursday, 2 miles Friday). The following week, try 3 and 4 milers. Before you know it, you’ll be up to more miles than you ever thought you could complete! This will help build up your endurance, but also allows you to recover in between the tough runs.

Incorporate some interval training

Once or twice a week, try out some interval training. Intervals (a combination of jogging, walking and sprinting) help build endurance even faster. Try doing intervals for 20 minutes at first, and then work your way up. Sprint for one minute, jog for 2 minutes, walk for 1 minute and then repeat until you just can’t take the sprints anymore!

Start eating your veggies and drinking yourwater

Incorporate a healthy diet in your Ruckus training. Here’s are some quick tips for your training/eating plan:

• Never run on an empty stomach! You need energy to power through those runs. Eat at least one hour before you run—and be sure to pack in the protein!
• Eat within 30 minutes of completing your run to maximize your window of recovery. Get the energy you need by eating 80% carbohydrates with 20% proteins.
• Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! Drink water until you’re full.

Bring on the obstacles!

Although no Ruckus runner knows exactly what to prepare for when it comes to the obstacles, there is a way to train for the difficult challenges that lie ahead! How? Weight training! Lift weights on the days that you do not run to beef up muscle and improve your strength. When weights aren’t an option, try out some body weight exercises like pushups, pull-ups, dips and plank holds. And don’t forget the abs!

We’re 40 days out, Ruckus St. Louis runners! Are you preparing?

The 6 Hottest Apps to Help You Train for Ruckus

Sometimes a dirt road, a pair of old tennis shoes and mental strength just isn’t enough. As human beings, we need support, we need advice and we need guidance when training for physical challenges like Ruckus. But what if you can’t afford a nutritionist, a coach or even a gym membership? That doesn’t mean you can’t get in tip-top Ruckus shape! There are dozens of cheap (and some free!) apps out there that will help you get in training-mode—even in time for Ruckus St. Louis on May 5^th!

iMAPMYRUN

Free: iPhone

iMapMyRUN (the app version of MapMyRUN) may be the best app to log aworkout—it even finds running courses for you! Record your workouts, find a great running route, plug in nutrition and connect with your running friends with iMapMyRUN.

MYFITNESSPAL

Free: iPhone

MyFitnessPal keep track of both your nutrition as well as your day-to-day activity. Simply plug theword “apple” into your daily intake and your calorie tracker will subtract 80 calories. Type in that you ran for 60 minutes and the calorie tracker will add an additional 600 calories to your daily caloric intake. It’s easy and it keeps health-conscious people on track.

INSTANT HEART RATE

Free: Android, iPhone

This app is a smartphone camera plus an instant heart-rate monitor that, according to many doctors, is one of the most accurate heart-rate monitor apps out there!

INFLICT TRAINING

$1.99: iPhone

This app, developed by Lance Armstrong’s conditioning coach, utilizes video to show you how to perform certain exercises and movements. Get inside the gym and turn on Inflict Training to learn more about which exercises are for you. This app shows moves that center around agility and balance, Pilates, interval training and much, much more.

GAZELLE

Free: Android, Blackberry, iPhone

Gazelle stores all medical records for later viewing. Need to log your Quest Diagnostics lab results? Need help remembering medication names? Not sure how many doses you may need? Gazelle helps with that!

HEART DISEASE RISKCALCULATOR

Free: iPhone

Scare yourself off the couch! The Heart Disease Risk Calculator estimates your odds of having a heart attack, stroke or heart failure within the next ten years! Talk about encouragement to put down the potato chips and sign up for Ruckus!

Our phones seem to do it all—they have become our coaches, our motivators and even our doctors. Start purchasing these cool training apps to and get ready for your upcoming Ruckus challenge!