Although we runners claim to be minimalists, we're good at making running complicated. It has to be the right time of day, the temperature just so, shoes broken in but not broken down, iPod fully charged, not to mention the pressure of making a time goal. It's a wonder we ever get out the door. It wasn't always this way. Once upon a time, most of us ran with pure intentions - no race to train for, no PR to beat - just the expectation of feeling better for having done it.

If you find yourself saying, 'I can't run unless...' or 'I can't run without...' your running is being dominated by ritual clutter, says Julie Morgenstern. 'Ritual clutter comes from making something into such a production that the activities and thoughts associated with that thing become almost paralyzing,' Morgenstern says. 'You've externalized your power to run with all these conditions. You need to disengage your running from all those thoughts and say, 'I can run. Period.'

Decluttering your running - stripping it of physical and mental accretions and streamlining your routine - will help you rediscover that 'spirit of running.' As a result, you'll enjoy running more, and you'll probably do it more often.