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.

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.

One Marathon Down . . .

Wow! Has it really been an entire week since I ran my marathon??? I have definitely been remiss in my duty by not giving an update until now. Please forgive me. I'm still getting used to this blogging thing, and as any of you moms out there know, no matter how much fun blogging is, family takes first priority.

Just to recap, as I trained for this first marathon, I went into self-sabotage mode for a good 6 weeks or more, eating terribly and running very infrequently right up until a month before the race. At that point I kind of freaked out and kicked myself in the buns to get moving. For that last month, my runs and diet improved tremendously, and even though I knew one month of doing the right things wouldn't completely make up for an entire summer of doing the wrong things, I was still hopeful that I would get a decent time in the marathon. And admittedly, I still had dreams of qualifying for Boston floating around in the back of my head.

Well, perhaps needless to say, I did not qualify for Boston in this, my first marathon ever. But I still feel so proud of myself for finishing the race! Yes, I did finish, and I was crying as I stumbled across the finish line 5 hours and 15 minutes after the gun went off. I hurt soooo much, and I felt soooo proud that I had made it even though at times it was all I could do to keep moving. I am so proud of myself for pushing myself back into a run so many times in those last few miles when no part of me had any interest in running anymore. And I am so grateful and happy that, even though I started having stomach upset within the first few minutes of the race that then lasted through the ENTIRE run (I realized later that I had caught the stomach flu bug that had my 3-year-old throwing up 2 nights before the race), I still ran, and I still finished! So while I am not proud of the time I got on my first marathon--in fact, I'm really quite embarrassed about it--I am proud of myself for doing it and finishing it despite the setbacks caused by the lack of training and the stomach flu. As I look back on the whole experience, I feel very positive about the entire thing and very excited to do my next marathon.

My post-race recovery was extremely quick thanks mostly to Danny Dreyer and his Chi Running method. If you've never heard of Chi Running, you can find out more about it at http://www.chirunning.com/. I have been actively practicing Chi Running for about a year and a half now, and I'm completely sold on it. While I was so stiff immediately after finishing the race that I could only hobble, I recovered really quickly and had very little soreness in the days following the race. It was truly a miracle! I was expecting to hardly be able to move by Sunday or Monday, but instead I felt great! I did have some sore leg muscles, but they were mild and really only noticeable when I tried to walk down any stairs. That, my friends, is why I am so excited to become a certified Chi Running instructor (more info about that later)!

Finally, I would be extremely ungrateful if I did not take a few lines to thank my friend Kris for supporting me through this entire experience. Being the awesome friend that she is, she agreed to leave her family and drive up to the race city with me, where we tried not to stay up too late talking and giggling like school girls at a slumber party. She then got up at 4:00 am to help me get ready to go. And if that weren't enough, she drove her car up and, after running a few miles with some other friends of hers who were also doing the marathon, she met me at mile 18 and ran those last 8 miles with me, encouraging me and helping me to keep going at times when I thought I was going to die. Admittedly, I did threaten her life a few times during those last miles because she was just too dang cheerful! But in all honesty I am so grateful for her support and her friendship. I never could have done it without her and all of the other friends and family who were sending love and prayers my way that day.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I was going to see how much improving my diet for the last month helped, and I have to say that if I had not changed my diet, I would not have been able to finish the race. I believe it was my whole foods way of eating that allowed me to keep going and fight off the flu bug enough to keep from throwing up or cramping up or collapsing in the middle of the race. My unsettled stomach caused me to not be able to consume more than a small fraction of the nutrition I brought with me on the run, but I still had enough energy to make it through 5+ hours of running! Healthy eating: I'm a big fan!