How I Find Motivation To Run Every Single Day

[@didels123]

So good James- I echo everyone in saying your video quality is exceptional. You should be really proud. 👏

[@jamesday1]

Thanks! That's really kind of you to say.

[@rachaelandthings]

Motivation, but also routine and discipline. When life gets hard, when everything is stacked against you, doing it anyway. Having that underpinned with why you run, enjoying the journey and not just the goal, is important too.

[@jamesday1]

Totally agree! Well said. Having discipline has been a big one for me recently.

[@bev9708]

Beautiful video James!!! I too now have gotten to the point where I can't stop myself from running every single day, and actually have to force myself NOT to run too much. Heading out on long adventures is my absolute absolute favourite. These days I'm bit by bit running the entire Grande Randonée #1 hiking trail , a huge circle around the Île-de-France region , encircling Paris, taking in castles, chateaus, forests, fields, pastures, medieval villages, Romanesque churches, towering Gothic cathedrals, even menhirs!!! It's one of the best things I've done in my life and I'm sooooo happy when I'm out there running the trails and discovering new places!! We are so so so blessed to be able to run and I soooo appreciate my legs and my body that show me every day that I'm capable of so much more than I ever imagined!!!

[@jt.8144]

Thanks James ❤

[@jamesday1]

Thanks Bev! I could have guessed you're loving running everyday with the amount of volume you're running! 🙂 That area you're running sounds amazing! Really nice to hear how happy that makes you. I absolutely feel the same way when I'm out on the trails!

[@jamesday1]

Thanks JT!

[@zacmunroe5534]

Sub rock climbing for wind surfing and that was me. But I transitioned to power lifting, then to running, and I’m still in the “some days I struggle” phase…thanks for this video.

[@jamesday1]

Thanks! It definitely took me a while to get through that phase but it's so great once the resistance goes. I'd love to get into rock climbing, or at least climbing in a gym. Not sure I would love the heights/exposure with proper rock climbing.

[@gqxbombastic]

so lucky i've found your channel. i'm doing my journey and it's both comforting and motivational to see your honest and realness feel of your journey. it's like having a friend and a mentor. thanks, james.

[@jamesday1]

Thanks! Really nice to hear that! I hope your training is going well!

[@johnnycatterall91]

I relate hard to this. Films have given me so much passion for guitars, building guitars (my now job! Who knew I could do that?) and now running. Love the channel and everything you do. I really appreciate the effort you put into these. Best wishes, Johnny

[@jamesday1]

Thanks Johnny! What an amazing job - very different to my career in IT! Must be amazing to turn your passion into a job.

[@garethjones8466]

I can pay you no higher compliment James than to say I would pay for your content. Every one of your videos is excellent.

[@jamesday1]

Wow. Thanks so much Gareth! Really nice of you to say.

[@birkatron1]

I can absolutely relate to everything you said. It was like watching a video about me just minus the windsurfing.

[@jamesday1]

Really nice to hear! Never know how relatable these videos are.

[@GregK2]

I start to struggle at this time of year when it's dark outside and I want to get a run in early, it's not the same vibe as when you're getting up with the sun. It will be worse still when it's dark and cold

[@jamesday1]

Definitely get that! Living in a city does help in the winter or finding a group to go running with in the dark helps. I'm pretty lucky here in Winchester with a large group of runners living in the city.

[@Mikeeyy53]

Well mate finally finished binging your channel and now I’m caught up! Really enjoyable videos so cheers. I don’t know what happened to me a few years ago but I also stumbled across Ultra Running and fell in love. To hear someone else say “I love following UTMB and WSER and watching Ultra documentaries” is great because that’s literally what I do now. But because I got so addicted I spend so much time trying to push my friends and family into loving it as much as me and they just think I’m nuts. I’ve had to realise everyone is different and finds their own passions eventually. Nice to hear deep talks and videos about my new found passion that I long hoped for. Cheers mate

[@jamesday1]

Amazing! Thanks for watching the videos Mikey! Totally understand the challenge of trying to get friends and family into ultramarathons. I've had a lot more luck meeting people already into ultramarathons through my running club and during events. If you're looking for more ultra content, I'd definitely recommend Dan Whitehead and Luke Barrett. Two vlog type channels that don't follow your typical approach to running KZbin content. I've also been enjoying Marcus Kjellberg's race vlogs.

[@sturgmanrunning8546]

Great video mate 👍

[@jamesday1]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@wsandenas]

Great video! Thank you for sharing!

[@jamesday1]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.

[@jerre125]

Nice this video is really a motivation!

[@jamesday1]

Thanks!

[@samdking]

Loved watching this. I had a similar transformation with my running 2 reluctantly running 1-2x a week to now 5x and sometimes feeling a bit lost on my rest days! Haven't caught the ultra bug yet, I'm focussing on improving my PBs at shorter distances and working my way up to a marathon. Funnily enough I also ran Brighton Marathon (in 2012), but fell out of love with running after that.

[@jamesday1]

Thanks! Hope the training is going well! I would recommend trying some shorter trail races to get a feel for what ultras are like. Such different events to road races. If you live in the UK, Maverick events do some nice trail races at shorter distances and are all around the country.

[@samdking]

@@jamesday1 Thanks for the heads up on Maverick, looks like a good chance to dip my toe in. I'm in West Sussex so looks like there's a few my way!

[@krilin84]

Enjoyed the nice shots of you running!

[@jamesday1]

Thanks Kristoffer! I've been struggling to find the time to film those shots but really wanted there to be more to the video.

[@harryruns1]

Great video James! Really interesting take on motivation and another quality production, love it.

[@jamesday1]

Thanks Harry! Glad you liked it.

[@runnerup9786]

I am the same as you with the motivation....get all my gear ready, get ready at 6am..then ask myself why I'm going.

[@jamesday1]

It's definitely a struggle at times! Always goes away once you get running.

[@metodmazej7936]

If it was up to me I would run every day its just the kind of person I am, when I get in to something I realy get in to it but my jurney just barley began I have been running regurarly only for the past 4 months I fucked up in my first 3 days of training I went from not running at all to doing 2x12 ks (2/3 SLOW jog and 1/3 walk) and a 10k mountain hike on consecutive days and that injured my ankle ligaments to the point I could bearly walk for 2 weeks I now found a rithem where I run 3-4 times a week 2-3 short 5k run and 1 long 10ish k run while making myself take 3 rest days every week because i feel like even with the easy pace of my short runs it takes a toll on my body (189 cm 105 kg man in his early 20s) that has to be repayed either with regular rest days or injuring myself if I over work myself. Thanks for the nice conntent and have a good day

[@jamesday1]

Thanks! I'm exactly the same. I get a bit obsessed with anything that I get passionate about. Not very good at moderation! Sorry to hear about the injuries! Building up the volume slowly overtime definitely makes a big difference. Hope the training goes well!

[@stuartmills299]

Great video, what about recovery? How do you find your body takes the running and do you do much to help it out? I have upped my mileage trying to get 100k in Oct (a lot for me) and have found it difficult to find a balance of running distance v being on the edge of injury. Thanks for sharing this info, its really great to see how others do things.

[@jamesday1]

For me personally, it has been about increasing the load I place on my body gradually overtime. I used to find 20km of a running in a week stressed my body. But I spent a couple months at that volume, then increased it slowly. Anytime I felt like I was on the verge of injury, I eased back the volume and let my body get used to running that much. It's definitely something that takes time. It's all about slowly increasing the stress and easing off if the body feels like it's over stressed.

[@stuartmills299]

@@jamesday1 great thanks for taking the time to reply

[@Bradrich506]

Hey James! I’ve just started watching your videos in the last few weeks and have realised we must live very nearby because some of the trails you’re using. I’m quite new to running and trail running so was wondering if you’ve got any good routes you can ping me over? Any distances up to 25-30 miles?

[@jamesday1]

Ahh very cool! Yeah definitely. I'm a massive fan of the South Downs Way and Claringdon Way which both head out of Winchester. Beautiful trails which are well maintained and are dedicated footpaths. I also often look at local races and download their routes to run solo. Like the Big Way Round has a few different distances and I've run them on a few training routes. My channel has a link to my strava if you want to see where I run. Hope that helps!

[@Bradrich506]

cheers dude, I'll check your strava out!@@jamesday1

[@Bradrich506]

Looks like you run through my village so I'll deffo be stealing some of your routes 😆

[@friendlyplayer92]

How do you recover?

[@jamesday1]

Good question, I used to always take a day off a week to recover, but I now find that if I run my easy runs slow enough, I actually recover almost entirely on my easy run days.

[@npavcec]

Ok, please explain why the heck are you running at a freaking 6am? Can't you schedule your day so you could run in the calm orange/purple time of the day (aka around the sunset time)? I run every day for the last 6+ months and have run 5-6 days per week for 10+ years before that, and I absolutely NEVER run in the morning unless I absolutely can't fit it in the daily schedule. Running in the afternoon/evening is soooo much better experience and fits the human circadian rhythm so much better. Try it. Just my 2 cents :)

[@bev9708]

Well funny but I just recently listened to one of Brodie Sharpe's Run Smarter podcasts where he spoke to an expert and they talked about the science on this very topic, and as with everything, unsurprisingly we are all individuals and don't all have exactly the same cycles ... basically some of us really are morning people and others just aren't, sorry but that's just science. IF you want to see that scientific evidence for yourself, Brodie is very responsive and always more than happy to point you to the published papers if you contact him.

[@jamesday1]

Love this discussion. My first 5 years of running, I hated running in the morning and always ran in the evening before dinner. Now I tend to run both in the morning and the evening - lots of doubles but I've come to love running in the morning. If I've got a stressful day at work, I prefer to run after work than before. But if I've got a relaxing day at home, the morning works best for me. Definitely see a mix of preferences between my friends.

[@friendlyplayer92]

Getting sunlight first thing in the morning is actually very good for circadian rhythm, according to neuroscience :P

[@davidgray9887]

When you hit that sweet spot with your running or anything, for that matter, it is a fantastic feeling. You have captured this so well in your video James. Well done, another great video.

[@Kelly_Ben]

We're all different. As a runner with a broken circadian rhythm, who runs a business during the day and has a part time job at night, I try to run in the afternoon between jobs. But, my "happy time" to run is between 10pm and 1am. My poor husband couldn't handle the stress of me out on the trails in the middle of the night, and bought me a treadmill. 😂 The only way I'll run between 3-10am is if its a race, or if I'm STILL awake from the day before. That's my best sleepy time.