How to Stay Accountable (Without a Coach) - And Why It Matters for Runners

Whether you are coaching yourself or following an online training program, a big piece of the puzzle lies in mastering self-accountability. For runners, this means actively taking responsibility for your training, ensuring that you consistently put forth the effort required to meet your objectives.

To help you stay motivated, accountable, and on a clear path to achieving your goals—without the direct oversight of a coach—here are five easy things you can do.

Define your goals

What do you want to achieve? Is it completing your first 50K, finishing a marathon in a certain time, or simply improving your overall pace? Write it down. For more about goal setting, check out this post: How to Set a Running Goal and Stay on Track: A Step-by-Step Guide.

Set weekly volume goals

Divide your training into smaller, achievable milestones, such as weekly distance goals. Define what your total distance you want to run each week is for a month at a time, and celebrate each week when you reach your weekly goal distance.

Incorporate a recurring workout

To consistently gauge your progress, incorporate a recurring workout into your training plan, say once a month. This could be a certain distance run at a predefined effort level, or a specific interval session or hill workout. By repeating this same workout every month, you can see your improvement in pace and endurance over time, acting as a powerful motivator.

Log your training

Keeping track of your training progress is crucial for maintaining motivation and fine-tuning your plan as necessary. We advocate for manually logging your runs—meaning you either input or jot down the details yourself. If you’re currently using Strava or similar to log your runs, consider personalizing your sessions by renaming them. This small act can make a big difference.

Build a support system

Surrounding yourself with a supportive community can be immensely beneficial in keeping you on track. Joining a local running club, engaging in Facebook groups, connecting with others on Strava, and finding a running partner can significantly boost your motivation and commitment.

It’s not easy to stay on track in your running. Life can get in the way easily, with two small kids at home, we get it, big time. But by doing these 5 things, you can set yourself up for success, and do what needs to be done so you can reach that goal of yours.

👉 Now let’s turn to you. Is there anything we missed here? Do you not agree? What else do you do to stay accountable in your training?