I’m just days away from participating in my fifth half marathon. Lately I’ve been having some mixed emotions. I haven’t been very vocal about it but I’ve really struggled with running in general these last several weeks. I felt like I wasn’t up to level of performance I was last season or I have been wanting to sacrifice running to attend another boot camp class. It wasn’t until about a week and a half ago when the thought occurred to me that I could care less if I PR much less if I run the race – and I was okay with either option!
After talking it over with my sister I’ve realized that I’ve just a) gotten bored with running, with this new found fitness boot camp and b) am suffering from over training. I took a small hiatus from running over the summer but have spent the last two year devoting my life to running and training for an upcoming race. After my break I jumped back into training, having to accumulate the longer distance while implementing these classes three days a week. During the summer I was running in the lower miles and only a few days a week due to the heat and humidity, with very minimal strength training. It was quite a shock for my body to adjust to the increase in intensity.
The next day after discussing everything with my sister she sent me a link to an article published on Women’s Running Facebook that same day. The article “It’s Okay To Take a Break From Running,” was written by Eat Run Pray DC. It really helped come to terms with running.
So what does this mean for me? Well, I’ve decided to take a break from running. Ill probably still continue to run here and there, we do have a warm up lap at camp and occasionally some sprinting. I have two 10Ks and a 15K lined up for January and February and I’m not sure how my decrease in miles with affect the outcome of those races…I’m not sure what to expect next weekend as I tackle the Florida Holiday Halfathon, but here are three potential goals I have set for myself:
Goal A) Have some fun and finish the race with a smile on my face, no matter what my time is.
Goal B) Finish with a smile on my face and under three hours.
Goal C) Finish with a smile on my face and under 2:50:58 my slowest half marathon time.
I haven’t done many “fun runs.” Sure, I’ve done a Color Run but otherwise the Glass Slipper Challenge during the Disney Princess weekend, were the only races I went in with the mindset that I wasn’t going to PR. All my races, no matter the distance has always been about achieving a new personal best…and I’ve come to realize that not every race has to be a PR.
Have you ever taken a break from running?
A special thanks to Amanda over at Running with Spoons for allowing me to “Think out Loud.”
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