Crossroads

I feel like I'm at a crossroads with my running.  I accomplished my dream of running a marathon last month, and since then things have continued to change.  I set out to run another marathon in April, before realizing Mathis and I didn't have the time/energy to run another full-marathon so soon.  Then I became determined to work on speed and aim for the goal of running a 2-hour half-marathon.  After setting this goal, I went on vacation, got sick and went without running for 10 days. 

So here I am now.  Still signed up for a half-marathon in March and another one in April.  No longer do I feel prepared/motivated enough to aim for a 2-hour goal, and I don't know where to go from here.  I ran 2 miles last night and it was tough -- I know I'm still coming off my cold, but it was frustrating.  I don't have much energy or motivation to run right now.  I think once I pick back up again I'll feel fine, but I don't even know which training plan I should follow right now. 

Running is still important to me, but I'm in a season where it's no longer the priority in my life.  And I'm struggling to figure out how to run without making it one of my biggest priorities.  I think I'm honestly leaning towards just running for fun.  When I want to.  How I want to.  Just running.  Simple as that.  No constant eye on my Garmin to figure out my pace.  No guilt over my speed.  No pressure on running a certain distance.

I follow Hal Higdon on twitter, and yesterday he said, "Don't make running such a big deal. It's something we do an hour a day so should not let it get in the way of our real lives".  I think this tweet perfectly sums up my thoughts right now.

It's hard for me to let go of having everything planned out a certain way.  I can be very Type A, and I like to know what I'm doing pretty much all of the time. :)  But I think right now is a really great time for me to back off of running.  I still love running very much and I'm not going to stop by any means, but I think I need to let go of all the pressure I've built up.  I am signed up for three very fun races right now.  Races that I intend to run well, but races I want to have fun at.  While I hope to eventually work on speed, I'm not sure this is the best season for that.  I don't know what the next year will hold with running.  But as long as I'm happy and running injury-free then I think I will have succeeded.

Miles: 2.5
Time: 30 minutes

Miles this Week: 2.5
Miles this Month: 2.5