3 Ways New Runners Can Meet Their New Year’s Resolutions

If you’ve always wanted to get in the habit of running and decided that this year is the year it’s going to happen, we applaud you. It’s times like these that you get a refreshed new beginning for your life. However, to ensure that you meet your new year’s running-related resolution, here are some helpful tips to follow.

Acquire a Running Buddy

You’ve probably heard people talk about having a gym or workout buddy. This is a person that has goals similar to yours that can help hold you accountable for reaching them. It can be very difficult to start a new habit. Having someone that you have to show up for makes a world of difference in your commitment on those days that you just don’t feel like running. You’ll find that just having another person to rely on will help you to stay on track to meet your goals and you can share in the joy of each other hitting goal milestones.

Get Comfortable Clothing

If you’ve ever noticed that some people just seem to be good at everything they started, it’s because they invest in good equipment from the start. If you want running to be a new habit, then you need to invest in that habit. Get comfortable clothing and shoes. What’s comfortable for you is likely different than someone else. If you find that you like to listen to your tunes while running, consider buying running shorts with pockets. As you continue your running, you may notice that you may need different clothing. For example, your shirt may chafe underneath your armpits and you may need to get a short sleeve shirt to replace that muscle shirt. Just continue to invest in your habit of running to ensure that it becomes long term.

Breakdown Your Goals Into Manageable Chunks

Another common reason that many New Year’s resolutions fail is that people bite off more than they can chew. Do yourself a favor and break down your goals into manageable chunks. Manageable chunks are those that you feel you can accomplish with ease. It’s better to continue to accomplish small feats over the long-term than fail at accomplishing larger feats over and over again. Motivation comes from past successes.

Running is a great new habit to develop to stay fit and mentally healthy. However, reaching your new year’s resolutions isn’t always an easy feat to accomplish. By employing the three tips above, you should be well on your way to achieving all the goals you want this upcoming year.

Brooke Chaplan is a freelance writer and blogger. She lives and works out of her home in Los Lunas, New Mexico. She loves the outdoors and spends most of her time hiking, biking, and gardening. For more information, contact Brooke via Facebook at facebook.com/brooke.chaplan or Twitter @BrookeChaplan