When Runners Don't Want to Run

I have a confession to make: Sometimes I don't feel like going for a run. Now, as a running coach and avid runner who dreams of one day doing ultramarathons, this is pretty embarrassing to admit. Nevertheless, there have been several days recently that I have not wanted to go running, and even a few days when I skipped my run entirely as a result. But I would venture to guess that I'm not the only runner who has ever felt this way. I think with everything we do, even things we enjoy, we will have our ebbs and flows. And just because we have a down day or even a down week doesn't mean we should just throw in the towel. What it does mean, though, is that we should be evaluating what is going on with ourselves both physically and mentally.

When you lose motivation to run or to exercise, I suggest you take some time to discover the reason behind the loss of motivation. Here are some of the most likely culprits:

1) Physiological: You are not getting enough sleep, you're getting sick or still recovering from an illnesss, or you have crossed the line into full-on overtraining. One major skill taught in Chi Running is body sensing. The basic idea is that you learn to listen to what your body is trying to tell you. Notice if your calves are feeling tight while you run and adjust your stride accordingly. If your back is hurting, pay attention to what it's trying to tell you. Are you bending at the waist? Do you need to engage your core? And in the same way, pay attention to how you're feeling in a whole-body sense. Are you tired? Feeling run-down? If so, maybe taking a day off or foregoing that interval workout for the week is just what you need. But if not, pull yourself out of bed and get out there while you consider other reasons for the decrease in motivation.

2) Mental/Emotional: Sometimes we can lose our motivation because we have hit a plateau and aren't seeing improvement; or because fear starts getting the better of us: I'm afraid to do that distance, afraid to run that race, afraid of the hard work my current training plan is going to require, etc. Or we are overtraining (yes, I know I mentioned this in the physiological reasons as well, but overtraining can have both physical and mental repercussions). When we start losing the mental game, the best thing to do is address the fears or issues head-on. Plateaus are an expected and healthy part of any training (see my blog post about plateaus); but if you linger too long on that plateau, it may be time to jump-start things by introducing a change in your training program, such as cross-training or perhaps pushing yourself extra hard for a week. If fear is what is getting you, acknowledge that to yourself instead of trying to ignore it, then decide how you are going to respond. Will you let fear control you? Or will you focus on your weaknesses until they become your strengths? As for overtraining, that will typically manifest itself as moodiness, irritability, depression, and/or grumpiness along with the physiological symptoms of feeling run-down and devoid of energy. If this is what you are experiencing, take a day or two off and get some extra sleep.

Another thing to keep in mind is that sometimes all you need to do to find renewed motivation is change things up a little bit. Do your next run on a different path; if you typically run alone, invite a friend to run with you; if you normally listen to music, try running without it and notice the sounds around you and the signals your body is sending you. Add some bursts of speed during your slow runs. What you're aiming for is to not let yourself get derailed from your goals when all it may take to stay on track are some minor tweaks.

As for me, I realized that my body was just needing extra rest as a result of too many late nights at the same time that I was taking my running up a notch. Once I started making sleep a priority again, my motivation and excitement for running came back stronger than ever. If your motivation is lagging as mine was, take heart. You may just be a small change or two away from getting the passion back.

No April Fool

I thought it might be a good idea to give some updates on what has been going on in my life lately, both the good and the bad. I did my weigh-in the morning of April 1st, and I was half a pound UP from where I was the first day of last month! I posted before about plateaus and about the fact that I was on one during the first part of March. Well, unfortunately that plateau lasted a good portion of the month; but rather than causing my weight to plateau, it actually went up, up, up until I had gained almost 7 lbs. Yikes! Given that, I'm grateful that I was able to get back down almost to the starting point, although I'm disappointed in my lack of overall progress.

As for my sleep experiment, after only getting to bed by 9:00 about 50% of the time, I decided to adjust it to  aiming for a 10:00 bedtime and a total of 8 hours of sleep a night. Even that has proven tough, but I'm working on it. I'm determined to see this experiment through to the end.

Interestingly enough, after several days of getting a full night's sleep, instead of feeling better, I felt like I had slipped into a full-blown depression. It was like my body felt like it was a good time to emotionally detox since I was finally giving it enough sleep. Depression=bad. I really don't like it. And after several months of dealing with some pretty severe mood swings, this was the last straw. I decided to be more proactive in addressing the issue. Any of you who know me know that I am not into just going to the doctor and getting a pill to fix my problems. Instead, I'm interested in getting down to the heart of the problem, figuring out what isn't working and why. In my search, I ended up in a natural medicine doctor's office, and he found that, among other things, my thyroid is not working well. So I started taking a natural supplement to support my thyroid, and within a couple of days I felt significantly better! I'm so excited and grateful to be feeling strong and whole again! So while I am still interested in getting to the bottom of why my thyroid was malfunctioning to begin with, at least I have taken a big step forward by discovering the problem and addressing it.

Finally, in reference to the 10,000 hours quandary I posted about a few days ago, I have decided to take this next month to focus on running, specifically Chi Running and Chi Running instruction. I have loved running for years. And during that time that I was debating about what to throw out and what to focus most of my energy on, I kept coming up with reasons why running wasn't right for me: it doesn't seem that important compared to some of the other options, I'm really slow, I don't have the right "look" for a runner (or a running coach), etc. But in the end I realized that if that is really my passion, it will lead me to far greater things and far greater joy than anything else that I try to force into the role of "my passion." So I'm going to test it and see if that really is my passion. So far I'm loving it.

Well, that's about all I have to report for now. I'll check in again soon.

If You Could Choose Just One Thing to Be an Expert at, What Would It Be?

In a recent post of hers, my sister and business partner Melinda Batchelor blogged about the idea of putting 10,000 hours of deliberate practice into something in order to become an expert at it. She talked about how this concept has really thrown her for a loop and caused her to re-evaluate how she is living her life and running her business. (It's a great blog post. I recommend that you take a minute to read it.) I have had many of the same revolutionary thoughts about my life based on this concept. In fact, it has really turned my world upside down for these last few days, and I've realized some things about myself. I want to be great at everything, not just one thing. I've compared it to a computer game I used to play years ago called Dungeon Siege. In the game, you can develop your character's skills in either magic or in a particular weapon. Choosing to focus on just one would allow you to become really powerful in that area but stay perpetually weak in the other area you didn't focus on. As a result, I could not bring myself to let go of either area. I would just keep trying to develop both areas, and I did--to some extent. But in the end I would have mediocre power in both skills, and my character would be nothing special in terms of attack. My weaker attacks would make it harder to kill the monsters, which made it more likely that I would die.

What I'm finding is that I do the same thing in my real life. Take my business, for instance. I am currently playing the role of Chi Running instructor and health coach and energy coach, with plans to add even more to my list of titles down the road. And the thing is I love doing all of these things. But I'm finally being forced to acknowledge what has been in the back of my mind for at least the past year: I can't be an expert at all of these things. So I find myself at a crossroads. Do I continue on, attempting to continue strong in all disciplines, or do I let go of some things so that I can become a master in one area? I believe the right path for me is to let go, but I'm having a really hard time with it, as if I'm having to let go of a planned-for child. And as a result, I can't decide what to focus on. There are so many reasons to choose or not choose each area (not to mention the other areas of interest that I haven't even mentioned), but I want to choose the one that I am most passionate about, regardless of what seems like the "logical" choice. I want to choose the one that will leave me with the fewest regrets at the end of my life. And so far I can't bring myself to do that because it seems so final, like the end of the others' lives, or at least the end of my dreams of becoming a world-renowned expert in all of those areas.

So here is my plan. I am going to take my list of finalists and choose just one to focus on for a whole month. At the end of that month, I will evaluate how dedicated I was to studying, if I had to force myself to sit down and study it or did I look forward to it, and whether I eventually got bored with it and wanted to do something else vs. being excited enough about what I was learning to want to continue. This experiment might not give me the straight answer I'm hoping for, but it will at least be a start. And thankfully, I don't have to decide tomorrow.

Through this whole emotional upheaval, I did realize right away that there is one thing that I am sure I want to become an expert at, and that is being a wife and mother. I care more about that than any of those other things. I spend so much time interacting with my family, though, that I feel certain that I can improve a lot in this area if I just make that time I'm with them deliberate--study the scriptures or a pertinent book for a short time each day and then spend the time I'm with my kids working on what I've been studying about. Whatever other path I choose will always be secondary to that. And that plan, at least, fills me with joy.