I've been running since January. I've never been a huge fan of running. I would do it as required in a crossfit workout, but have never in my life thought it'd be fun to just "go out for a run". While in Hawaii the summer of 2010, I didn't want to lose my fitness so I got up every morning before anyone else and went for a run of at least 5 miles. Well of course the scenery combined with the fact that I came home without gaining any weight had me hooked.
I continued with my crossfit workouts through December. Then in January, I decided to focus only on running. I trained and ran my first half marathon in June. It was great! I thought I'd be hooked forever. But then I experienced the letdown of no race to train for. My next race isn't until December. I continued to run, but haven't been motivated to do any longer distances.
We took our family vacation at the beginning of August. I knew I wouldn't be able to get any runs in as we were going to the lake, where the low was 90-95 degrees, and we wanted to get out on the lake early. So I gave myself the two weeks off and didn't worry too much about it. Now that I'm back, I'm having such a hard time. I ran 4 days this week, but only went 3 miles each day. I couldn't believe how sore I was after the first day! My quads were sore, my knee hurt, my hip was tight and my endurance was in the toilet. What the heck?! I figured since I have plenty of time to train for my next half, I can get back to my usual mileage slowly. But I'd love to hear from some of you experienced runners. Do you ever take breaks from running? How do you stay motivated when you aren't training for a race? How do you get your mojo back after a break?
