I had an opportunity to listen to Jeff Horowitz, a certified running and triathlon coach, author, and personal trainer, who has run more than 150 marathons.

It was his words “Setting goals with a meaning,” which stuck. This applies to both racing and training runs.

How often do you step out the door without a plan as to what you are going to do? You try to make it up as you go along, and after you finish, all you feel is frustration. During the run, your thoughts are on what else you could be doing.

Setting a goal with meaning helps you to stay focused on the matter at hand, and you will receive the maximum benefit from your workout. It’s time to re-energize and get back on track.

With each New Year there are new demands on your time, priorities shift, and your personal time is what gets decreased. It’s time to draw a line in the sand. The word for the month is motivation.

Motivation is defined as the process that initiates, guides, and maintains goal-oriented behaviors. It’s what makes us act, whether getting a glass of water to reduce thirst or reading a book to gain knowledge. It involves the biological, emotional, social, and cognitive forces that activate behavior. In everyday usage, the term motivation is frequently used to describe why a person does something.

There are three major components of motivation:

• Activation involves the decision to initiate a behavior, such as choosing to start a workout regiment.
• Persistence is the continued effort toward a goal even though obstacles may exist, such continuing along your workout regiment, but being injured and having to take time off to heal before getting back on track.
• Intensity can be seen in the concentration and vigor that goes into pursuing a goal. An already fit person will have an easier time adapting to the regiment, while someone knew to exercise will take more time.

Remember that motivation starts inside yourself, finding desire and determination. Imagine that the goal is to sign up and run a 5K in two months. You will need the motivation to start the training—no one can make you run it. How many times have you skipped a workout because you had other things you considered more important?

You can find Jeff Galloway’s 15-week training program for a 5K here. The program starts off easy, with a combination of walking and running and blended cross training. The program starts out with walking 10-15 minutes twice a week.

Here are a few tips to follow while using the program:

• Don’t wait to take walk breaks. By alternating walking and running from the beginning, you speed recovery without losing any of the endurance effect of the long one. Start with jogging one to two minutes and walking two to three minutes. As your training level increases, you can adjust your run/walk ratio to running 5 minutes/walking one minute on your long runs.
• Do the running portion slow enough at the beginning of every run (especially the long run) that you’ll feel tired but strong at the end. The conservatism will allow you to recover faster.
• Every other day, you can cross-train instead of walking. Cross country ski machines, water running, cycling, and any other mode you find fun and interesting (but non-pounding) will improve overall fitness.
• Stay conversational during all exercise sessions. This means you should be exerting yourself at a low enough level that you can maintain conversation. It’s okay to take deep breaths between sentences, but you don’t want to “huff and puff” between every word.
• As runs get longer, keep your blood sugar boosted by eating an energy bar (or equivalent) about an hour before exercise. Drink water continuously before and during exercise and with all food.
• The Natural Running Center is a repository of running information that offers much-needed motivation and education, and it’s free. 

It’s not too late to pick up where you left off. We can all use a little motivation from others.