Maybe it's because I have been training for some sort of race for nearly the past 2 years with very little breaks. Maybe it's because I just trained the most consistently for a marathon in my life the past 6 months. Maybe it's because I just ran two marathons in a week. Maybe it's all three, but what I do know is that my motivation to run has gone missing.
It all started Saturday when I had an entire free day to run 14 miles and also to run some errands. I haven't had a free day to do nothing in a long time, so I didn't feel the need to rush to get my run in. As the day went by, I completed most of my errands (mailing gifts, creating my first DIY scarf as a test for a gift!), but couldn't get my butt up to run. I honestly feel not excited at all to be training for another race. I am excited to race, but not excited to be right back into the thick of marathon training. I tried to tell myself the things that motivate me like, "You never regret a workout" and "You drank a fair amount last night. Might be good to burn that off." I just couldn't get up.
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| Cat memes FTW |
I started to think that maybe I'm not mentally ready to prep for another marathon and what good is it to force myself to do something I don't want to do? Do I want to grow to resent and hate running? No, but was that me just coming up with good excuses to be lazy? I don't know, honestly. I did 300 reps of the
BodyRock 1000 rep workout, which kicked my booty, but was really fun. I am contemplating just taking the month of December easy (focus on running a few times a week, yoga, and cross training), starting ultra training in January, and bump down from the full to half marathon for the Surf City USA Marathon on Feb 5th. I don't really want to race a half marathon and a full marathon would be better prep for my ultra training, but the idea of training for a marathon right now sounds as awesome as pouring hot sauce into my eyes.
Who knows how I'll feel this week. Maybe I just had a bad weekend, but I'm hoping some that throughout the week, I can find my motivation. I've looked everywhere for it, but alas, it is elusive. Here's to hoping it comes back soon!
Don't be afraid to take some time off from running (or training at least). You'll come back with rested legs, and a better mental state. You may be slightly out of shape, but with all those base miles you've bank, it wouldn't take long to get back into race-ready condition.
ReplyDeleteI've learned, through injury-forced furloughs, that with experience (which you do have), you can pull a marathon out of your arse without too much pain. Just run a little slower, leave the watch at home, and enjoy yourself.
I ran the Philly marathon last year after peaking at maybe 25 miles/week and taking 2 weeks off in the middle of peak month due to a calf strain. I ended up running maybe 8-10 minutes slower than what I would have done with proper training.
You could always do the full at Surf City, but treat it like a long Sunday run. Worst case, you can always drop out, but you might surprise yourself.
David, thanks for the kind words and smart advice! I don't like to be in a race and not truly race it (my competitive nature), but maybe I'll work to just relax and run it for fun. Thanks again!!!
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