Today’s post is by guest writer Christina Heinle. She blogs regularly at lazybonesrunning.com.

Running with Intention

I’ve lost my running mojo.  Yea, I still run but without the love and the belief I’m doing what is mine to do.  I’ve put on weight, run slower and all without the spark, the desire to get out there and run.  I keep complaining about it but haven’t made a change.  You know that saying the definition of insanity is doing the exact same thing and expecting different results.

I decided it’s time to make a change. I set my intention to just get out and run.  An intention is different than a goal. A goal is a measurable activity such as I’m going to run 6 miles by a specific date, or run 8 minutes per mile in a half marathon.  If I started with just the goal and didn’t meet the goal, I would fail.  I wouldn’t know how to keep increasing my way towards the goal.  To me, that’s what an intention is, moving me forward to improvement and ultimately toward my goal.

When I have my running mojo it gives me such joy. I set my intention to get out and run knowing in turn, overtime, because I set my intention, I’ll get my mojo back.

My intention is to get out there.

Simple as that.

If I know my intention is to run:  

• It will encourage me to get up when my alarm goes off when I truly want to roll over.
• It will encourage me to enjoy the birds in the trees and not focus on being faster.
• It will encourage me to run past the corner and run one mile before I decide today’s not a good day for running.
• It will encourage me to not focus on where ‘I should be’.

I know that by setting an intention and keeping in my mind, there is no place to go but towards it.

Christina Heinle has been running for over 7 years, run 4 marathons including Boston in 2011. Her latest adventure brought her to the top of Machu Picchu in Peru.  You can read more about her running and other endeavors at www.lazybonesrunning.blogspot.com.