Have you ever been in a running slump?
And I don’t mean your pace and race times slowing down… I mean have you ever just not felt like running for weeks on end? You get off work and you find yourself wanting to go home and do laundry rather than go for a run?
That’s where I’m at right about now.
After pouring literally every ounce of motivation I had into training for the Wineglass Marathon last Summer, I was ready for a little bit of a running break! I love running, but I was looking forward to spending some more time with my friends and family without having those long runs hanging over my head every weekend. I’m sure anyone who has trained for a race for several months can relate!
By the time I had gotten some rest and began to focus on my next big race – I got bronchitis… TWICE this winter! While it’s not your typical running injury, it’s pretty hard to run when you can’t breathe without coughing. I took three weeks off altogether and when I tried to get back into the swing of things, it was hard! After just three weeks, it felt like I hadn’t run in months!
I soon found myself having to transfer my bib for the 50K I was trying to train for, to a friend. I was just running out of time to train with all the time I had to take off. I was really bummed, but I knew that was the smart option.
Since then I just feel like I’ve lost all my motivation to get out the door for a run, or any other exercise for that matter! I’m lucky to get myself running three days a week when I was previously running 5-6 and forcing myself to take a rest day. I’ve signed up for a few trail races just hoping they kick my butt enough to get me motivated again! Every time I do run, I feel great! I sleep better, my body feels better, I feel less stressed – so why am I having such a hard time getting back into it?
I signed up for a marathon back in January when I was still feeling excited and motivated to try again for a BQ (I was just over 1:30 too slow last year!) and I’ve gone from being excited a few months ago, to dreading the training because I know I’m not ready. I’ve bought a few books, searched the internet for my answer and I even tried putting more effort into cross training – but it still doesn’t seem to be working.
One thing that my running journey has certainly taught me is that life doesn’t always work out exactly the way you want it to. But that doesn’t mean you give up! You have to work hard for your dreams – sometimes a little harder than you first thought! I’m very lucky to work here at ARC, where every Wednesday all my friends show up for the Fun Run to run with me and inspire me with their running stories. It helps me remember why I love running in the first place, why I need to work through this slump and get back to making my dreams come true!
Have you ever gone through this? What did you do to get your mind right again?
Send me an email at katie@appalachianrunningco.com and let me know how you got over your slump!
~Katie
