Running the last couple months has been continual uphill battle. The lack of motivation; or I should say the paralyzation of not being near my best running self makes me not want to go at all. The downfall of perfectionism. Running drives my competitive nature; not just simply with other runners but more so with myself. I know that I can be stronger and faster if put into the work. It is one the great things about running; is the results are reflection of the effort that is put in.
Over the past year, as I have spoken of many times I was training for to qualify for Boston marathon when all the races were cancelled. I was able to stay motivated and on track throughout the spring and most the summer; mainly through denial and hope that there would be fall races I could complete in. As the fall was closing in I started to do my natural wind down of summer training and into a low grade maintenance phase. I ran about 3-4 times a week at low easy mileage. I tried focusing on just on how my body was feeling and going when I when I wanted to go rather than because I was training for something.
Once November hit however I decided that it was best just to take a break from running almost all together. I was not enjoying it anymore at this point it felt more like chore than something I was doing for fun or my mental well being. So a break it was, besides it was November, training can be re started and built up again starting in January; the natural cycle of running and training. It is important to have breaks in your training; it helps to keep your body strong and injury free as well your mental ability to work hard and power through tough workouts. After taking this break I felt more refreshed and wanting to go out for run than I had felt in a long time. Running is suppose to be fun; so if you are not having fun then you likely need a break from it. This is 100% OKAY TO TAKE A BREAK FROM RUNNING WHEN YOU NEED IT. Please do not feel guilty for taking a break in your training throughout the year- it is healthy and healing for both your body and mental state.
In December I completed a run streak challenge. This was something I had never done before. I thought it would be a good way to jump start my motivation and kick start me into a new training cycle. The challenge was to run a mile a day everyday. Overall not to bad and really not very hard. I ended up doing about 3km everyday, so about 15-20 minutes a day. This was something that was easy to do even after a long work day. There was always 20 minutes in my day to go for a run. As I was getting into the end of December I started to think about what my training plan would be for the rest of winter and spring. I was planning to use training plans from last year to re build and gain strength and speed again.
However, at the end of the month I ran into a health issue; I am better now; and it is something I will discuss at a later date in a later post. The point of mentioning it is simply to say that because of it my running came to abrupt stop. I was able to run a handful times in January; just short, easy pace runs. Now that things have resolved I have been really struggling to get back into it. I had started to get into again been running for a couple weeks when as you know Calgary/Alberta got a major cold snap. With no races coming up and no gyms open to run on the treadmill I stopped running again for another week or so. Yes, there is a long list of excuses created by myself to justify not going running, as you runners know it is pretty easy to find these when you are not feeling it. I finally got my bike trainer set up though; allowing me to make myself workout anyways even if it was not running. I am trying to get back into the habit of running/working out 5-6 times a week. It is something that truly is habit more than anything else.
Today I went for my 1st run back. It was a solid 8km run at 5:40min/km pace. That is typically about 30 seconds slower than normally I would run steady/easy pace runs however it felt as if it was 15 seconds per min/km faster than normal. The lack of running; the lack of cardio I have been experiencing over the last few months is truly presenting itself. Classic symptoms of being out of shape, chest tightness and shortness of breath. From being very much in shape to this it is bit of hard pill to swallow. I am trying to focus on the positives, how running truly makes me feel: mentally at peace with myself. Even though I was doing hour long bike rides on the trainer this past week it was not the same mental break as running gives me. It not that brain turns off when I am running, it actually almost hyper-activates in the sense that it runs through multiple scenarios throughout a short period of time. Yet, the flow that comes through these scenarios is peaceful and easy, there is no debate in thoughts it is just casual conversation with myself. It really is the most relaxing thing. I truly wish that I could just have recorder hooked up to my mind while I run because I always get the best thoughts and idea for my blog and instagram posts when I am running but I do not always remember them by the time I get home. The next few months will be focused on getting back on track with running. Hopefully the weather stays warm for the next while.
