I come to you a lonely runner, stuck in the middle, slower than my husband (darn his long legs…) and faster than other friends. And lately, I’ve been dreading my runs instead of looking forward to them. I was tired of running by myself in races and during training. I was jealous of the other runners I saw that had someone to run with. I’ve been running for just over 5 years at this point and it just wasn’t feeling fun anymore, instead it was a mental weight.
I’d started to look at running as a way to maintain my weight instead of something that I enjoyed doing. Back when I lived in Ohio I used to be able to place in my age group….with our move to Florida and the running culture down here, I have yet to place for a race. People are pretty speedy down here!
I’d been participating in longer races and lost some of my speed, forgotten how to push myself, I’d lost the joy that went with a hard run and I was struggling to find a way to motivate myself. I was training on the treadmill because it was easy to roll out of bed, head over to the exercise room and jump on the treadmill. Then I suffered a leg injury and had to take a couple weeks…that just fed my desire to quit since I couldn’t run for a bit anyway. I was seriously thinking of throwing in the towel and hanging up my running shoes in favor of weight training. If you know me though, you know I’m stubborn and I wasn’t about to let myself out of running because of flimsy excuses.
But what could I do to recapture the feeling of crossing the finish line and knowing it was your best time yet? All I’d experienced recently was self-doubt about whether or not I even had it in me anymore to set a PR. I talked it over with my husband and he suggested training together on our maintenance runs…he would pull me along and I had to promise not to complain. It was a start, but I still needed something more. I’d been talking for a while about getting a personal trainer and finally I went over to the fitness center by us and did it this week. I met my trainer for my first session on Monday and I’m finally starting to feel the joy of a good workout again. I came out of the hour long session pumped and ready to face the day. I didn’t wonder how many calories I had burned and if it was going to be enough to maintain my weight.
I’m on the road to recovering my joy in running, but it’s not going to be an easy one. There will be bumps along the way and setbacks, but now that I have a plan I feel better. I’m going to be signing up for some 5K’s to try and get some of my speed back and feel that sense of competition, the sense of knowing I might have a chance to place. That is something that drives me. I hope this post might help anyone out there who is feeling like me…because no one looks forward to every run and sometimes it becomes hard to look forward to any run. If that happens to you, take stock of what is really bothering you and feel free to reach out to me. Everyone can use a hand once in a while!
See you on the road!
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Article Author – Carrie Bryniak
I am your friendly Travel Professional with Kingdom Magic Vacations and a runner as well. My first RunDisney Race was in 2010, the Wine & Dine Half Marathon Relay…and since then I’ve been hooked on Disney races and others. Some of my favorites are the Wine & Dine Half Marathon, the Turtle Krawl 5K and the USA Beach Running Championships. If you’re a runner and you need help with travel plans for a race, don’t hesitate to contact me! I’m here to help you and support your efforts!
