A Major Step Back
Good morning. It's 6 a.m. on Sunday, March 13th and this may very well be the next to last entry you'll read in this blog.
I drove this morning to the outskirts of Brenham, heading west on 290 to go run Moe's Better Half Marathon in San Marcos, and turned around when I couldn't answer the following question: "Why am I doing this?" Oh, I had answers, but they weren't very valid ones.
I'm not physically hurt, but I need to step back and make sure that my reasons are indeed valid.
This may be a one-time warning, which is good regardless of the outcome, or it may be permanent one. Only the next couple of days will prove that out. And it may take longer. In the meantime, I've wiped out my calendar to the left to only what I have made commitments to.
If I stop running events regularly, I know that I did two things a lot of people will never have the fortitude to do and that's run a marathon. I did two of them! In eleven weeks, no less!
And I also know how to maintain a healthy lifestyle and to work to be in a lot better shape than what I've ever been, even when I weighed less than the 232 that I weighed in at the Bayou City Classic 10K Saturday morning downtown.
Please understand that this isn't burnout. (Without going into too many details, I have a lot of stresses also pulling at me.) Again, it may just be a reality check as far as time and resources. Who knows? I know right now that I sure don't know.
No matter the final outcome, I'm going back to bed, sleep and enjoy the morning in a different way than running 13.1 miles in humid and overcast conditions before driving three (3) hours back.
I drove this morning to the outskirts of Brenham, heading west on 290 to go run Moe's Better Half Marathon in San Marcos, and turned around when I couldn't answer the following question: "Why am I doing this?" Oh, I had answers, but they weren't very valid ones.
I'm not physically hurt, but I need to step back and make sure that my reasons are indeed valid.
This may be a one-time warning, which is good regardless of the outcome, or it may be permanent one. Only the next couple of days will prove that out. And it may take longer. In the meantime, I've wiped out my calendar to the left to only what I have made commitments to.
If I stop running events regularly, I know that I did two things a lot of people will never have the fortitude to do and that's run a marathon. I did two of them! In eleven weeks, no less!
And I also know how to maintain a healthy lifestyle and to work to be in a lot better shape than what I've ever been, even when I weighed less than the 232 that I weighed in at the Bayou City Classic 10K Saturday morning downtown.
Please understand that this isn't burnout. (Without going into too many details, I have a lot of stresses also pulling at me.) Again, it may just be a reality check as far as time and resources. Who knows? I know right now that I sure don't know.
No matter the final outcome, I'm going back to bed, sleep and enjoy the morning in a different way than running 13.1 miles in humid and overcast conditions before driving three (3) hours back.
posted by WalkSports.com | 6:13 AM
2 Comments:
Jon- Don't know exactly what's up, but like you said to me it sounds like you listened to yourself and made a good decision this morning. I've seen your extrememly full training and racing schedule, so I know running in a lot of ways has probably consumed most of your time and resources. I don't run nearly as much as you and I always feel liike my life is consumed with running. I'm sure you'll work through whatever it is, but let me just say I'd be sad to see you give up racing completely regardless of the reason. You're a great asset to the Houston running community. Good luck!
Hi Jon, I can understand how you're feeling and I don't run nearly as full as schedule (races or travel distance to them!) as you do. If you need it, definitely take a step back, do some runs just for run, don't worry about your times! I'm currently in a similar situation...I lost some of my enjoyment of running during the marathon training and am trying to regain it...
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