Saturday I spent the day and evening at Universal Studios, while waiting in line to take the Hogwarts Express (Harry Potter nerd here) over to Island of Adventures; my sister and I were killing time on our phones, me on Pinterest. I came across a pin for “15 Fitness Habits You Need to Establish in Your 20s,” so naturally I had to read more into it. The second tip was to “Fall in Love with Strength Training,” I think this has already happened for me. Lately I’ve been in a bit running funk. I’ve been dreading any and all of my runs, and three miles just seems like forever, yet with the strength training I would rather wake up in the mornings and knock that out over a run.
I think part of my funk stems from the 33 weeks of training I endured for two half marathons and a challenge, the other half stems from this god awful summer weather. I’ve tried running indoors on the treadmill and outdoors at the local park, by mile 1.5-2 I am done. I was able to get 3 miles out of myself last week, but that was the longest I’ve ran out of the 5 runs I did in the last month. It also doesn’t help that the warmer air is making it harder for me to breath, with my already asthmatic issues.
In order to push past these few issues, I need to dig deep down and remember why I run and why I love it. My game plan is to continue with the strength training, it is a great benefit now and down the road.
I’ve also done some research into tips on how surpass this unpleasant running funk, one of the first things I plan to do it meet up with a friend. I spent most of my training runs (long distance and several speed workouts) with a running partner, it helped keep the motivation going, and served as a distraction as we talked to maintain a slow pace. Having that distraction during this funk will keep my mind off the struggle to quit so early on and the torturous weather.
Another helpful recommendation I read it to run “naked,” not really naked but without my Garmin. It would be nice to just let go and not have a care in the world about my time, or even stress over my pace. I think with the warmer weather and needing to lower my expectations of my performance level, leaving the Garmin at home would be beneficial.
Do you have any tips for getting out of a running funk?
A special thanks to Amanda over at Running with Spoons for allowing me to “Think out Loud.”
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I think taking an off season & usually having the next goal race lined up – not to mention that goal of running a half in every state – keeps me from getting in a funk. So far, anyway. Maybe summer would be a good off season for you?
I don’t stop running, I just run less mileage & don’t run as hard.
I also try to make sure one run a week is naked – well, I don’t leave the Garmin at home, but I just start it & don’t look at it except to see the time.
Thanks Judy! I have some races that I am excited about in the winter so I know the funk isn’t permanent. I definitely need to work on not pushing myself to run to hard and re-learn to love the shorter distances, especially during the summer here in Florida. Thanks for the advice 🙂
I can’t even imagine running in FL in the summer!
Taking some time off almost always gets me out of my funk. It doesn’t have to be any crazy extended period of time, either… sometimes all I need is a few days and I want to get back at it. Either that or just going easier on myself for a little while. I think your idea of running without a Garmin is a good one — no numbers means we can pay more attention to what we’re supposed to love about running 🙂
Thanks Amanda. I need to work on going easier on myself, especially with this warmer weather. Running without the Garmin is definitely something I need to try to keep my mind focused elsewhere and not on the numbers like you said. 🙂
The only thing that helps me get out of a running funk is to get out there with one of my best running buddies! Friends always make the miles seem easy!
They sure do!