it has been three weeks since my last speed workout.
That means over 21 days without tempos or intervals, no mile repeats or 800s. And I am not sure I see the return of them in the next few weeks.
If you have been reading for a while then you know that I love speedwork. Just love. Love sprinting around a track; love 400m repeats, love long tempos. Painfully hard and challenging workouts, yes please. So deciding to take a break from it was difficult.
For the past 21 days I have been running the same amount of miles per week but they have all been easy. After a hard year of training, I knew I needed to take some time to let my body rest. And since I have no real race plans as of yet, it was getting hard to find motivation to run fast especially in the cold mornings.
Running easy is great but after a while it gets a little bit boring. Slower miles all the time on the same routes in the dark can just be overwhelming and not motivating at all. So I decided it was time to mix things up a bit.
I ran in the afternoon instead of morning. Running in the morning guarantees I get my workout in but sometimes switching to afternoons can really help. Plus I get to actually see the scenery that I run by and often notice new things.
I ran with my best running friend. NOTHING makes the miles fly by quicker than running with my BRF. She is basically my twin and we always talk while we run.
I ran a new route. Often I am afraid to run a new route in the mornings because it is dark. I stick to routes I know in the morning so I took the chance to not only run in the afternoon but also run a new route. I love exploring on the run and finding new routes.
But even with these, sometimes the miles are still boring and tough. What do you do when you lose motivation??
6 comments:
Like you, if I lose motivation I either try a new route or run with a friend. Right now my sister and I are doing the same training plan, so when I am not motivated to do that day's workout, I can call her to do it with me (and vice versa). New routes have been my big things lately, though. I'm a big trail runner, so I've been exploring new trails (to me) near DC.
I love the pics you included in this post!
Smart idea to take a break from speed, and good ideas to keep you motivated. Hmm. My biggest ones are running with a friend or in a new place and you covered those. I guess new tunes, if you do that!
A new playlist always helps me! Or a new running skirt...
Momshomerun
I've always got plenty races lined up...even years in advance and that keeps me motivated. My training is already geared towards some extreme races I want to complete over the next few years.
Running with friends and changing scenery is my #1 for motivation. Shopping for running clothes works too :)
When I lose motivation, I sign up for a race! I just did that as I was feeling like my workouts were so aimless. I still sort of feel that way as I am just training for a 10 miler (and won't be looking to PR or anything like that, I just want to finish strong).
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