Over The Hump

The mid point of the year is officially over and we’ve tumbled into the second half of 2014. Up to this point, I’ve run my butt off and stuck to a sorta structured running routine. I was making my Saturday runs and most Tuesday/Thursday runs with the group and walking at lunch. All of this was leading up to the day I would need to start training for my half marathon in November.

To be honest, even when I signed up for that damn race, I was skeptical. I know myself. I know how fickle I can be. Routines are great and I love them but after awhile I get bored and lose interest. The fact that I stuck as long as I did to my running routine is a miracle. But the past month or so I’ve seen a decline in both my interest and joy in running. I’m not enjoying it at all these days, even with the improvements and personal record breaking I’ve been doing. So while my body is in tune with it and doing well, my heart is just not in it.

Then I’m faced with a challenge. Do I force myself to push through? Do I make myself get out there and pound that pavement even if I’m hating every step? My concern with using force is that I’ll end up giving up all together. I’ll lose any interest in coming back and I’ll move on. But I know that I need to stick with it to some extent. Right now I’m not working out at all. I’ve completely taken some personal time off and focused my attentions elsewhere, like my quilting and blogging. My creative side is having a field day as I sew and write till my heart’s content.

All the while there is a small voice in me saying how much I miss running. There are things I do miss even though my overall feeling is that I’m not interested enough to get going.

The funny thing is my timing. I’m supposed to start training for my half marathon this week and I’ve not made a dent in my training schedule. Other than my race last weekend, I’ve not taken any steps to put down mileage towards my training.

While I don’t know why this happens and how to fix it, what I do know is that I will come back to running and loving it. I always do. In the 3 or so years since I started this mad dash to push myself and become a runner, I’ve never fully walked away to never come back. Even after a long period of time without a single jog due to an injury, I still came back. I’m not out of touch, I’m just taking a break I guess. And hopefully this break will mean I won’t lose steam in the midst of my training over the next few months.

Better at the beginning than in the middle of a schedule, I’d say. Now to find that spark again and start over.