Has running ever gotten you into a funk? What I mean is, have you trained for and ran your big races for the season and then as much as you wanted to get back into running, you just couldn’t do it? Whether it was lack of motivation, family commitments or just down right exhaustion, something was missing. I’m here to share that it’s okay to take a break from this sport because sometimes that’s all we need to reignite that spark.
For those of you who don’t already know me, I moved to Winston Salem almost 2.5 years ago for grad school at a time when my self-esteem wasn’t doing too great and running – and really all forms of self-care – had taken a back burner. I was in the middle of a toxic relationship and my desire to run was at an all time low. I decided I needed a bigger motivation, something to make my miles mean more, so I reached out to my friends at PAWS Chicago, the midwest’s largest no-kill animal shelter to guarantee my entry to the 2022 Chicago Marathon. I trained all summer in Winston Salem and battled hills and humidity alongside studying and exams. I even found a couple of run clubs, one where I could focus on speedwork (something I had never done before) in the evenings and another through school, which helped start my mornings off on the right foot. My miles slowly started to feel good again, and by the time I had enough of that August heat, most of my training was done, and all that was left to do was show up in Chicago a few weeks later.
I never publicly shared a time goal for this race, but I mentally told myself what I was aiming for. Now, I’m not a Boston Qualifier or anything too speedy, but I figured Winston’s hills set me up for a perfectly flat and fast (for me) Chicago race. But unfortunately, that is not what happened. I ended up falling 20+ minutes short on my goal and was extremely disappointed. I didn’t have a particularly “bad” race, but I definitely left the course feeling like I didn’t give it my all, and that was not a feeling I liked. At this point, I had completed 4 marathons, and this one was just about the slowest to date. As runners, I’m sure we’ve all pondered what we could have done differently or what could have gone better.
I took a few weeks to sit with my results and performance. I accepted the fact that I didn’t meet my time goals. I celebrated the fact that I completed the race pain free and got to see so many familiar faces on the course. And then I knew I needed to do something proactive about the way I was feeling, so I did what most runners do and signed up for a spring 2023 marathon. I thought training through a North Carolina winter would be a nice change. And this time around, I publicly shared my race goals and diligently included speed work as much as I could. I did my best to stay injury free, incorporated more strength workouts than I previously had and used my local running crew to keep me accountable to those goals.
Whenever I’m feeling down about running, it helps me to remember my why. Why did I start this whole journey in the first place? When it comes to marathons, I remind myself that the marathon is a beast of its own and that distance doesn’t owe you anything. It is okay to fall short of your goals sometimes and it’s okay to be upset about it. Sometimes, it’s even okay to take time off the sport we all love so much. But no matter what, running will always be there for you when you’re ready to return.