How I convince myself to go running

So, I love running. But I usually don't love running until I'm all done running for the day. Sometimes it can be really, really hard to make myself get out the door. I thought I would share a few things I do when I feel like any excuse will prevent me from going for a run...

1. Picturing how I feel when I return from a run. The feeling of exhaustion and accomplishment that I know I'll have when I come back is sometimes enough to get me moving.
2. Saving up good podcasts for my run. You could do this with podcasts, music, or books on tape. Pick something that you love to listen to, and only let yourself listen to it while you work out. It'll make exercise something you look forward to.
3. Making a checklist. I use one of the calendars from this website to write down how much I want to run during the upcoming week. After I complete the run for that day, I check it off. It's a little thing, but the satisfaction of having a full week of checks helps motivate me.
4. Picking two days of the week where I don't worry about exercise. Yes, I know, I should get 30 minutes of exercise every day. But my job is active enough that I don't have to sit down constantly. So I give myself two days a week where I don't worry about going for a run.

It also really helps to be working towards something like a half marathon or 10K. But I don't like to always worry about a training schedule. Instead, I just want to run for the sake of running. Some days this works, but other days I need a little more motivation.