Lessons learned from sad days

hi ladies,

Juli my friend...I'm so sorry to hear that your mojo has taken unapproved vacation time. I'm glad you have this blog and US to vent to!! That's what we are here for cuz we've all been there, in our own way. So use us to commiserate with, complain to, and seek encouragement from.

My heart goes out to you particularly because I see you as someone who embraces life fully, who seeks out fun, excitement, and adventure, and who knows how to nurture and care for herself. I KNOW you will find your way through this and emerge happy, re-energized, and in love with running again. In the meantime, it sure stinks to go through it.

Ultimately, you need to discover what works for you. We're all different and I know everyone else on this blog has advice on what's worked for them, too. Fresh off my own summer-of-lost-mojo, here is what I've learned works for me.

1. Let it happen. Lost motivation is often my body's way of telling me to chill out, that there's a better way to spend my time. It may last one day or one week. This summer, it happened to last several months. Did I wish things were different? yes. Did I firmly believe there was a higher purpose? yes. That higher purpose wasn't clear at the time, but I had faith it was there. Trust your body to tell you what it needs.

2. And yet sometimes it is mind over matter. A friend once gave me this advice: When the last thing you want to do is run, AGAIN, give yourself a different goal. Start with the goal of just putting on your running gear. If that feels okay, then have the goal of running to the end of the street. If it still feels good, run around the block. And so on. I'm definitely guilty of "all or nothing" thinking, as in "if I can't run the full 6 miles, I might as well not run at all." This summer reminded me that I feel better after a 10-min walk than I do sitting around. And if sitting around is all I can accomplish, that's okay.

3. Check the self-talk. I've become aware of what I tell myself about training. When I wake up and say "I need to run 6 miles" or "I should ride 20 miles" I know something is wrong. I change the "shoulds" into "want tos" and see if that pushes me out the door. More often than not, the shoulds go away. 

4. Draw on the energy of those around you. Running in the park does wonders for my motivation...it's so much easier to keep going when I know there are others around me, even if I don't know them and even if we're not running together. All it takes is to be running near others and the energy is contagious. Better yet, call me and I can be in Castle Rock lickety-split!!

Meanwhile, I'm checking my interval workouts off my list and finding them more enjoyable than I thought! I think they're making a difference in my long runs. Yesterday was 8 miles (run 9, walk 1) and the other two runs this past week were 5 and 4. I MUST find a way to make yoga a permanent part of my training again--if for no other reason than to help balance everything out--life, work, training, family, etc.

How's everyone else? Lisa, how was Tennessee? Becky, how was Wisconsin?

xoxo
Jen