A few years ago, my husband and I were doing a lot of training for triathlons. With full time jobs and a workout schedule that sometimes required two-a-day sessions, we had to use our time efficiently. That meant, waking up before work (usually around 4:30 or 5:00 am) to complete one (or both) of the workouts. At one point, we recruited my brother and his wife to join in on the ridiculousness fun. There were days where the thought of waking up so early made me want to cry. This is where accountability came in – knowing that there were other people counting on me to be ready to go running at 5:00 am.

Being held accountable by others is a great motivator to get my running done. It can be done by meeting up with friends for a run or just having someone know that I’m training for a race and letting that person (or people) hold me accountable. Sometimes, just putting a goal out there (like on this blog) for others to read about is good enough for me to be held accountable. (Side note: I’m currently training for my first half-marathon in December. Thank you for holding me accountable.)

Usually, I am my own worst enemy when it comes to making excuses for skipping a run. “Oh, it’s going to be 100 degrees today? That’s too hot, I’m not running.” “Brrrrrr, 45 degrees?! No way, I’m staying under the warm covers.” When I’m not running with anyone, I like to have someone (like my husband or a friend) ask me how my running is going. When I’ve made a commitment to run with others, then it’s a lot harder to come up with an excuse to not show up. Even though having accountability can be hard at times, it certainly helps me get the most out of running.