I wish I could explain what was going on.
Maybe I need a break or maybe I’m not working hard enough. I can’t quite figure it out.
I’ll have a great run. Maybe it will just be a standard training run or maybe it will be speed work. And then the rest of the week feels off. I’m not feeling the motivation to get out there, and then when I do, I’m counting the minutes until I’m done.
Ugh.
I wonder if part of it is just the general anti-climactic let down of the holidays. When all the changes of routine and fun events and visiting with family and friends are over, it takes me a while to get back to “real life.” Of course, the side effect of this is that my training did suffer a little during the holidays (not horribly, but I hadn’t been hitting those long runs like I should have been), so what could I possibly expect?
Additionally, the dark skies, rain and low temperatures have been bringing me down. I’m ok for a little bit of “winter” but this has been way too much. Maybe a few solid weeks of sunshine will make a bit of a difference.
There is a lot on my race calendar, too, so I have the joy of anticipation that I thought would be helpful. Keeping that calendar full was a huge motivator for me last year, but maybe I’ve gone too long between races? My next one is in 12 days, and I am hoping that, even if I don’t hit the goals I initially laid out for myself, it will give me a bit of a mental jumpstart.
Running is a funny thing, isn’t it? Just when you think you have the physical elements nailed, the mental creeps in to throw a wrench in the works.
For now, the plan is to fake it til I make it. I don’t want to throw in the towel and give up. I’ve worked way too hard for that, and I’m not a quitter. I refuse to accept this mindset and I am not going to believe this is anything but a temporary thing. I think if I keep getting out there, as scheduled, at some point, my brain will remember that I actually do, for the most part, love this whole running thing, and I’ll forget about this particular rough patch.
What do you do when the running blues get you down?
How do you cope when you find that your goals have hit a bit of a plateau?
Are you getting enough rest? Sometimes runners have a hard time taking a day off, when really that’s what they could use most. Also, it’s February. I know you don’t live in the bleakest winter-having place on earth, but still. February is a bleak month. Hang in there, hon, it’ll get better!!
Diana recently posted…Sunday Sums
BLEAK! That’s the perfect word! Although, I guess today I can’t consider it too bleak, but ugh. You are so right. It definitely wasn’t like this last year.
I am running 3-4 times a week. My longest run since ZOOMA has been maybe 5 miles? I don’t even think that. I just haven’t felt up to more.
I’ve had a serious case of the blahs since this year started. The weather lately is killing me. Warm then cold and rainy. It does a number on my head both mentally and physically. I’m not running like I want (or need) to, and I’m not even biking like I want to. And I keep getting hurt. *sigh* I just think I need a nice warm sunny weekend at the beach.
DragonLady recently posted…“Time makes you bolder…”
It has to get better, right?
I hope you get that sunny beach weekend soon!
I took a few days off before starting my training for the Princess Half because I didn’t want to start training when I was already feeling funky. I’m so glad that I did, because it totally renewed my love for running. I hope you find your mojo again soon!!
Rachel @ Undercover Diva: A Sitcom recently posted…Week 9 #PrincessHalf Training Recap
I did take a few weeks off after ZOOMA. While I loved that race, my performance must have bothered me more than I anticipated, because I just can’t push through all the blahs and negative feelings. I was supposed to run today but I’m going to make it up tomorrow. Even with the sun, I just don’t want to do it.
My marathon buddies and I were talking about how we are all in crazy funks too. Maybe we are having spring fever. I am trying to zap out of it be setting small goals. Good luck escaping your funk.
Abby @ BackAtSquareZero recently posted…New Orleans in Pictures
Fortunately, today was a good run. I needed that or else I was seriously going to think about throwing in the towel.
I go through “I hate running” spells and totally focus on CrossFit…then I go through “I love running” spells and focus on running more than CrossFit…it helps to make my running plans with a running partner, so I have to show up no matter if I want to or not—-plus WE NEED SPRING already!
Amy@crazysweatymommmy recently posted…Partners For The Win
I am all on team “WE NEED SPRING”! Ugh.
I wish we had a cross fit box remotely close. It seems like all the awesome classes/gyms are a far haul from me, and I know myself well enough to know that I will go for a little while and then not.
Where are you located? I’m in central PA — every time I think that I have a little bit of momentum into getting into a “running groove” (be it a good, long run on a weekend, or 2-3 days straight of “wake up and go”s), the weather takes a nosedive and I can’t get out.
And the dreamill hates me almost as much as I hate it.
John (Daddy Runs a Lot) recently posted…Where I describe a truly absurd dream
I’m in Florida. So I don’t have as much excuse as the rest of the country, but it’s still been yucky by our standards. Finally the sun is back out, so that helps a lot.
I don’t own or have access to a dread mill. The closest gym is about 30-40 minutes from here and it just would end up not being worth the fees.
Well you know I’m feeling it as I just posted something similar last week. I too am going with “fake it till you make it”. I did give myself almost a week off to feel sorry for myself first.
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We need shirts that say this