Sunday, March 17, 2013

Sometimes You Just Don’t Wanna


We just got back from a run that I really did not want to do.  Lately, our motivation just hasn’t been where it needs to be, and yes, I’m speaking for my husband, as well.  This is especially bad for me since I’m supposedly training for a race next month.  This one I’m doing solo since Mr. ExposedTanLines didn’t see fit to run on all all-female relay team (which, strangely, still ended up with two Y chromosomes on it).

Here are things to do when you don’t want to get your run in.  Be forewarned, these are not really tips, these are just things that get me personally through a rough running patch.

1) Don’t run.  It’s the truth and I’m not proud, but sometimes I just say fuggit, it’s not happening.

2) Pick a run you love.  And when I say “love”, I don’t mean the squidgy wubby-dubby-type love I have for my kitties that I feel firmly in my fallopian tubes.  I mean the “I can barely stand you” love that my mother had for me when I was caught writing “Tricia and Vanessa are whores!!!!” on the bathroom stall in fourth grade.  Running is always easier for me when the route is familiar and unchallenging.  Today we ran a familiar route conveniently right from our front door.  It included a two-miles stretch on a dirt trail and I actually saw a wild bunny, which I took as a reward for my resolve.

3) Go flat.  Don’t feel like running hills?  No problem.  Let yourself be flat and happy.  Far better to go easy than to not go at all.

4) Leave the running watch at home.  I trip out about my pace, so it’s an act of kindness to myself to not have that sword of Damocles hanging over my head.

5) Take your motivation from others.  The Los Angeles Marathon was run this morning.  If those elite athletes and weekend warriors can struggle through 26.2, I can certainly get in about an hour’s worth of road time.

Sometimes the idea of running is so much more difficult than the reality.  I know our slump will pass.  It better….I have a race to run.

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