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Building good habits: Running

Running is easy to start thinking about. Much harder to keep doing. This guide is built on something simpler: how running can work in practice. Not perfectly, but consistently.

Person trail running in a forest, wearing a dark shirt and shorts with colorful sneakers, surrounded by moss-covered rocks and trees.

How running becomes something you actually keep doing

The idea of becoming a runner often arrives with the change of seasons. Lighter evenings. Warmer air. A sense of starting over. But what tends to matter isn’t how you begin – it’s whether you continue when motivation drops. We spoke to Lotta from our Customer Relations team. She runs regularly, alongside work, family, and everything else that fills a normal week. Not as a fixed routine, but as something she adjusts and returns to.

Run to and from work

One way she keeps it going is by removing the need to “find time.” Running becomes part of the day itself, often by running to work, or part of the way. If the full distance feels like too much, she takes public transport for a section and runs the rest. It’s not all or nothing, which makes it repeatable.

A person wearing orange and teal trail shoes and striped socks hikes uphill on a mossy forest path.

When motivation is low: start slow

She also doesn’t expect the run to feel good from the start. The first kilometers are often slow, sometimes heavy. Instead of pushing through that resistance, she lets it be. The pace can come later—or not at all. The important part is that the run happens.

Run in beautiful places

Where she runs plays a role too. Busy roads rarely invite a second session. A trail, a gravel loop, or a path leading somewhere—a lake, a clearing—creates a different kind of pull. Something to return to. Sometimes she stops along the way, takes a photo, and keeps going.

Running with kids require creativity

With young children, routines shift constantly. Instead of waiting for the right conditions, she adapts. A playground becomes a base. The kids play, she runs loops nearby. Short, interrupted sessions – but enough to keep the rhythm.

Set goals that motivate you

Motivation, when it fades, is often replaced by direction. Sometimes that means signing up for a race. Other times, something simpler: a weekly distance, a route she wants to complete, or just a sense of continuity from one week to the next. Over time, that’s what turns running from an intention into something you return to without thinking too much about it.

Two people outdoors; one tying blue trail running shoes, the other wearing striped socks and similar shoes, with rocky terrain and a cloudy sky.

Choose the right shoes

If running is something you want to keep doing, the gear you use should support that – not become another obstacle. Shoes that feel right from the start, offer reliable grip, and hold up over time make it easier to just head out, regardless of conditions.

We use our business to do good

At Icebug, we want to make really good shoes that help you get outside every day, no matter the weather or season. Our goal is to change the footwear industry by taking responsibility for our climate footprint. We make shoes that last, with low emissions and respect for both people and the planet. Part of what you invest in us, we give back to the Earth – for example by supporting organizations that protect old-growth forests.