Posts Tagged by holiday

This Christmas, I did a lot of baking, cookie decorating, eating, present unwrapping, chatting with family, and sitting around in my pajamas until after lunch.

What I did NOT do a lot of, however, is run.  In fact, during the entire week of Christmas, I ran a grand total of 10.5 miles — less distance than my scheduled long run. Any other year, I wouldn’t really stress about this at all. My dedication to running naturally ebbs and flows, and Christmas has always been a down-time for me. But this year was different — this year, I’m supposed to be in training. And when you’re in training for a marathon, you’re supposed to run.

So why didn’t I?? It’s not that I’m not motivated to do well in this race. National Marathon is a flat, fast course, and I’m gunning for a PR. I’ve told lots of people about my goal, discussed training plans with blog friends, family, and pretty much anyone who would listen. And I knew going in that keeping up with the plan this week would be tough, but I figured I could set aside a few hours of my week to get in the runs. After all, I am no stranger to the fact that training requires making sacrifices.

Sometimes, however, all the motivational tricks in the book aren’t enough to get myself moving. Even though I have a plan to follow and a race to run whether I’m ready or not, the desire to train was the furthest thing from my mind last week. Because the deep dark truth of the matter is – I don’t always love running. It’s true. Even though running and I have a relationship that has stood the test of time, it doesn’t mean that it’s always been a peachy one.

I realize this confession may come as a bit of a surprise. Not only have I been running seriously since I was 14 years old, but my blog has the word run in the title and I write about running all the time. But having a deep-rooted love for something doesn’t mean that I always love doing it. There are times in my life when other things have taken priority over running. And I’m okay with that. In fact, I think that’s one reason I’ve been able to stick with running for so long. Being able to cut back on running (and sometimes take breaks from doing it altogether) is a key part of how I’ve stayed motivated all these years.

Why am I telling you all this? I’m not trying to make excuses for my lack of running last week. Even though I don’t regret my decision, it doesn’t mean that I didn’t stress over how this was going to affect my training. Or spend time scheming about how I was going to tweak my plan to make up for what I didn’t do. And I also know there are other dedicated runners out there who were able to make sacrifices and get in their training despite the commitments and distractions of the holidays.

No, I’m telling you this because I know how hard it can be sometimes to motivate yourself to do the things you know you should. Whether it’s exercising several times a week, eating more fruits and veggies, drinking less soda, or spending more time off the couch — sometimes the things that are the best for us are the hardest to do — even when they’re things we typically enjoy.

And you know what? I think that’s okay. Living a life that makes health a priority doesn’t mean being perfect all the time. Sometimes you might slip up, and some days you might choose cookies and movie watching instead of the gym. Sometimes you may even lose sight of your motivation altogether. It doesn’t make you a bad person, and it doesn’t mean all your health goals are shot. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — life is about balance. Sometimes the pendulum will swing more in one direction than the other, but all that matters is that you’re able to get yourself back on track.

The only catch is, I haven’t really found a magic solution to getting your motivation back. Today I knew that I needed to get back on the training wagon. Instead of trying to squeeze in the miles I missed, I decided to count last week as a wash, and start all over again this week. Which means just picking up where I left off in my training plan, and re-arranging my weekly long run to make up for the fact that I didn’t go long last week. But even though I knew all this, I still didn’t really feel like running. All the days off had pulled me into a running slump — a slump that was going to be a challenge to climb out of. I went for a cold walk with the family, and was so tempted to just call that my workout for the day. Instead, I forced myself to get up, get dressed, and lace up my shoes for an easy 5 miles. And while the run wasn’t my best ever, it did end up being the push I needed. Finishing that run made me feel stronger and more motivated than I have in a week. It helped put things in perspective, and it started the week off on a good note. Sometimes getting out the door really is the hardest part. And the simple act of willing ourselves to put one foot in front of the other might be all the motivation we need.

So if you find yourself stuck in the exercise doldrums like I’ve been, don’t despair or get down on yourself.  It’s not the end of the world if you put exercise on hold for a few days. The important thing is that you don’t stay there forever. You’ve got to just pick yourself up by the running shoe laces and get out there. I can pretty much guarantee that you’ll feel better once you do!