When you've lost that loving feeling...

Let me go ahead and get this out in the open:

I fell off the running wagon after my first marathon.

Seriously.

How does that happen?  I trained for 16  whole weeks to run 26.2 miles.  I had an amazing race.

And then...

Check out my February stats:

5 runs?  5?

Pretty dismal...especially when you consider I ran the marathon January 19.  I knew I'd take a good week off after the marathon to give my body some time to recover.  I didn't realize the return to running would be so slow.  I wasn't sore, but my body certainly didn't want to run at a decent pace.  I ended up taking 2 full weeks off after the race.  The runs I did in February when I got back to it were slow and steady.  The 12 days of no running in February really have no reason except for not making running a priority.  I got lazy.

Maybe you've experienced this before.  You come home from school and decide you'll wait a bit to run.  There are papers to grade, supper to prepare, dishes to wash...and when it's finally time to run you're just exhausted and end up falling asleep on the couch.  That was me in February.  The cycle was vicious.  I'd come home from school and decide that I'd rest my eyes for just a minute, wake up even more exhausted and then take care of my family's needs.  I made excuses.  I'd run tomorrow.  But I didn't.  Winter has never been my favorite season, but without running I seem to get the winter blues.  The only cure for them that I've found is running.  The difficult part is taking that first step and making the effort to run.  It's much easier to grab a blanket, sit on the couch, read, and nap.

March hit and I decided it was high time to get back to running.  I felt awful because I wasn't running.  I didn't have any energy because I wasn't exercising.  I got back to my treadmill in the basement and began to log miles again.  I'm happy to report that as of today, March 10, I've run the same amount of miles in ten days that I ran all last month:  25 miles.  

My best run so far for the month was today.  It was unseasonably warm.  Even though I had ran yesterday (4.5 miles) and I don't usually run on Sundays, I laced up and headed out to enjoy the 67 degree weather.  

I ran 6 miles down my favorite road and included a half mile trail run (which is really 4 laps around a small but beautiful cemetery).  My time outside lifted my spirits and chased the winter blues away.  I hope they're gone for good.  I need spring weather, time outside, and to RUN!  Our spring break is in a few weeks and I'm really looking forward to running in the Florida sunshine. 

If you've taken some time away from running...I understand.  But stop making excuses and get back to it.  You'll feel better.  Get back that loving feeling!  It's really not gone, you just have to rediscover it.

Happy running!