Question: How can I get more joy in running so that I can continue running?

Sri Chinmoy: If you do not get enough joy from running itself, then you have to do something with your running to get joy. Try to bring in some variety. Seven days a week you run, so you can vary your schedule. Do not run each day at the same speed or for the same distance. One day you can run one mile, the second day two miles, the third day seven miles, then again one mile. Every day change the distance and change the speed. If you run at seven minutes per mile, then one day go deliberately at a nine-minute pace. The next day do something different: 100 metres walk, 100 metres run, 100 metres walk, 200 metres run. In that way, you will develop a different kind of joy and confidence.

That is what I do. In one mile, if you can have all kinds of variation, then you may get joy. I find that it gives me joy. Otherwise, if I have to run one full mile, sometimes it is so boring.

Another day you can run according to your mood. Just let your mind or your heart decide. Sometimes you will run for 20 metres and walk for 200 metres, then again you will run for 800 metres. Allow yourself to be carried by your inspiration. Do not have a fixed distance in mind. You just surrender to your mind’s whims. Then afterwards you will get so much joy when you see that you have covered so much distance.

There are so many ways to get joy from running, but if you are badly injured, like me, then there is no way to get joy from running. At that time, just enter into a different field.

From:Sri Chinmoy,Sri Chinmoy answers, part 35, Agni Press, 2004
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/sca_35