It’s been almost three weeks since the Ottawa marathon and I am still thoroughly disenchanted with running. I realize that this isn’t exactly something one should profess to those reading a running magazine, but there you have it.
First of all, there is no desire to run. Secondly, when I do run, my knee hurts (IT stiffness I suspect). Thirdly, well, there’s no thirdly. Those two things have kept me and my running shoes apart.
The first week was fine, I had no desire to do anything but lay around. I was happily exhausted post-marathon and plus I ended up getting a head cold. All the more reason to do anything other than run!
The second week (last week), I made an attempt. I went out for a frustrating and unsatisfying jog Sunday morning. I swam 1000 metres on Monday, my run clinic started so I went for a quick 3k with the more beginner group, I even managed to get out on my bike. I just… wasn’t feeling any of it.
I thought about buying more sessions with my personal trainer, but his forte is training athletes for a specific event. I spent the whole winter “training” that I decided I needed a break. And that’s when things kind of changed. I downloaded a new yoga video by Jillian Michaels and got my butt soundly whopped. I went for an awesome 18k bike ride in the sunshine. And then! I did something completely out of the realm of normalcy and dropped in on an aerial yoga class. Once I realized that I didn’t want to be Goal Focused this summer, I was kind of able to let go of the pressure I was putting on myself.
So, if you’re like me, a runner whose cross-training days may include a couple biceps curls but little else, and you’re stuck in the monotony of running – Never fear!
There’s a whole world of possibilities out there!