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Once a beginner, always a beginner
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Well, I seem to have gone back in life to the time that I was a beginner to all his running lark! Yes I have ran a few races in the past with my ultimate race being the Eden Project half marathon. To some that doesn't sound like much of a beginner but here lays my problem. I get into the swing of things, start slow and short, build the distance up while remaining slow, vary my training bla bla bla, enter a few races and then decide to take a leap and go for a bigger race or try to get a personal best. I do it and feel good about it but every time I complete a race which I either a) try for a pb or b) try a distance further than my farthest, I end up not running for weeks which then turns into months. It is like a self fulfilling prophecy, I think I don't need to run because I have managed to run this (insert distance) race and then before you know it three or four months have past. The most recent one being six month long with no running. Now I am back at square one, getting my shorts, top and trainers ready for the morning repeating the mantra "you will go for a run tomorrow". The silly thing is that I know that if I can string a week of running every other day I will be hooked again and the bug will have bitten me. Does anyone else have this problem or is it just me? Have you been in this situation and managed to find some miracle solution (other than not running, although this is runners world and not couch potatoe world so I doubt it on he not running idea)? Anyway, enough of my mind spilling out onto the world wide web. Hope your evening is going well. Ant
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Comments
I think it's a common problem. Not just for runners but for anyone with anything.
You set yourself a goal, achieve your goal then the anticlimax.
If you can always have another race or another goal ahead to aim for after the last one. It could be to run a particular race that you really want to run, or to run somewhere different, a new place to explore once all the training is out of the way. It could be to try something new.
If it helps try joining a club. Running with others helps to keep the interest alive once you have done your race. You'll have people to talk about running with.
Instead you have a goal for this season?
For example book a marathon then book a 5k got 4 months later the a half then a 10k different sorts of challenge, length then speed etc.. This will maybe keep you challenged and motivated?
make running a way of life, to the point where its just something you do rather than a concious decision. How to do that? run 6 days a week doesn't really matter how far and just keep going, sooner or later you will reach the point where you get grumpy and frustrated if you don't run.
Entering another race prior to completing the next race is also good.
Yes, me too, but now I've been running regularly for about a year, which is pretty amazing for me.
I try to cultivate a frame of mind where even if I don't feel like it, I'll do it anyway; I have the attitude that if I expect every training run to be 'perfect' (as in no physical niggles, I feel full of energy, and in a good place mentally) then I will end up not running one day, which will stretch into two days, etc.
So, I go running and I don't expect anything from it (but I do benefit from it obviously). They have a phrase in Zen called 'Striving non striving', which sounds kinda odd, but it means just doing something and not expecting a result (but results will come).
I don't know if any of that helps, but not expecting perfection from myself helps me.
Booktrunk's idea seems like a good one. I had a mini brainwave last night. A charity sweepstake on say 4 or 5 different races. People at work and friends try to guess the combined running time for the races and the final money gets split 70/30 to a charity and the closest guess???
Just got to find the right events now.
Great suggestions though. I will keep you posted on progress.