As athletes, we all have bad training days, those days where it feels like you are wearing concrete shoes and no matter what you try nothing seems to be able to turn it around. All runners go through this - it's a part of the sport. Ideally it will be a one off thing and you would find your running mojo again in the next session but if you find that you are having a period where you continually behind the eight ball here are some tips to help you find the other side: 
 

• Outside Factors: Are you busy at work or are you staying up too late at night? Outside factors have a massive influence on our running. If you are tired because you are working too hard or aren't getting enough sleep your performance will suffer. Think about the outside factors that you could be affecting your training and then develop a plan to get on top of them.
   

• What type of session is this? Every session doesn't need to be run at 100%. When you think about the training programme there are some sessions that require more from you than others. It's a good idea to think about your sessions as A, B, or C sessions. An 'A' session is where you want to be 100% focused on giving everything you have. In Club10k this would be your track session and for Advanced runners the pace session. The 'B' session may be your longer Saturday run and the other sessions would be your 'C' sessions. Thinking about your programme this way helps you to have the right focus for the harder sessions but also allow you some breathing space in the other sessions.
   

• Red Flags: Are you getting sick? If you find you have had a few bad training days in a row it may be that you are a bit under the weather at this time of year there are lots of colds and bugs around. Allow yourself to step back from the programme to get yourself right. We know that this isn't ideal as you may want to keep training but if you keep going when you get sick you can prolong the time it takes to recover. By pulling back for a short period of time and focusing on getting better you will be back to running at 100% faster.
   

• Where's the enjoyment? Sometimes a loss of mojo can come because running has became a bit 'samey'. In this case do some self reflection and spend some time finding the challenge and enjoyment that you get from running. It may be catching up with mates or aiming for a time that you will know will push you. Finding the enjoyment will help you find the spring in your step again.
   

If you find you are going through one of those tough patches remember that you can always talk to one of our coaches about it, that's what we are here for ;-)