Looking back at the past month, it is pretty easy to see a decline in my activity level. I went from running a minimum of four times a week down to at most three and recently, only two. I think it was easy for me to blame my travelling, which took up a week and a half of that period. Since being back and getting settled, I haven't exactly sprung back into action.
It is really hard to keep going; there are plenty of distractions that make it easy to blame something other than myself. Just look at this past weekend. On Friday, I actually had to call in to work in order to look after Audrey, who reacted negatively to one of her postsurgery meds. I took the opportunity to get a brew done, which took about four hours when all was said and done, but instead of then going out for an evening run, I just settled into playing computer games.
On Saturday I was just as lazy, playing games and taking it easy. On Sunday we did a massive amount of laundry, like seriously, a massive amount of laundry. We found clothes that we haven't seen since November. Massive, 50 dollars worth of laundry.
There always seems to be a distraction that gets in the way, or at least I have been letting it get in the way. The biggest distraction being WoW, and my other gaming/online addictions (after all, I am a fat nerd!). I struggle with limiting my time in-game, taking care of everything I need to take care of before I log in. It is just way easier to sit down to play and drink some beer compared to heading out for a good run.
I know what I have to do to get back on track, and I am planning a pretty good April challenge to get everyone back moving toward more fun goals. I think the idea of setting personal goals is great, but it is very easy to cheat or just let it slide. With the race coming up in a few weeks, and more long-term ambitions starting to form (maybe the B.A.A Half in the Fall?!), not to mention beach season coming up, which means I definitely want to lose some more weight, it is time to get my act together.
Does anyone have any things they do to stay on track when they are in a rut? Are there ways to trick yourself into getting that initial push back into it?
This may sound a bit weird, but I’ve found that the easiest way to keep running consistently is run more. By that I mean switching from a 3-4 day a week schedule to a 5-6 day a week schedule, even if it’s not as intense. Just making a part of your day to day activity mentally gets you used to the idea of just going when its time to go. Then again, everyone keeps calling me crazy, so it might just be me!
You know what, I think you are 100% right though. If I can get 5-6 days a week in, it will become part of my routine again. I actually found it easier to run 5-6 days a week and just feel like its something thats built into my day.
I have a plan, centered around this idea. I’m going to make it happen!
Do you schedule out your runs ahead of time? We usually have our running schedule (including distances, speed work, rest days, and cross training) planned out a month in advance, revolving around races. For some reason this long-term planning makes us more accountable. And if you miss a workout because you decided to play video games, you can make it up on one of your rest days! I know when we didn’t have a schedule, we didn’t run as much as we needed to.
That being said, burnout and lack of motivation are pretty normal, and I’ve found both in my experience and by reading a billion running blogs, that it doesn’t last long. Sometimes you just need a vacation to remember why you enjoy it so much in the first place.
I haven’t really planned too far out in advance, though I have a little 5k training program set up with my sister that I am trying to stick to for the upcoming 5k race.
I think a more rigid structure might be a good thing though, one that is a little more challenging and keeps me engaged in the process of getting better and faster.
I agree with all the above. I think we should mash these two ideas together. Plan out lots of runs! 😛
Seriously, though, I think it could work!