Rough Patch - It's Temporary!

I stopped running in 2013.  Plagued with plantar fasciitis and significant life changes, I put running on the back-burner.  I ran a little but nothing like in the previous two years.  My Nike Plus activity was laughable!  My running buddies were nudging me to get back on the pavement.  I would run occasionally but wasn’t consistent.  Every time I tried, I would experience everything that I used to hate about running.  My breathing was awful, my legs were heavy, and I couldn’t run a mile without walking (which isn’t a bad thing but not common for where I was).  Very discouraging.  I had to sit down and have a hard talk with myself.  I realized that running is a sport of challenges and if I wanted to continue, I had to set clear expectations. 

I did an analysis of why my running was suffering (besides the fact that I wasn’t consistent).  I was stressed.  I wasn’t sleeping properly, eating right, and worse, I was letting all of the negative thoughts about my “failures” plague my mind.    

I realized that if I intend to be a better runner, I needed to at least do the following:

1.       Be consistent

2.       Get sufficient rest/sleep

3.       Fuel myself properly

4.       Stretch before and after any physical activities

5.       Cross-train

6.       Understand that with any sport, there is a risk of injury (expect that it “could” happen not “will” happen!)

After documenting this, I put everything into perspective.  None of it meant that I was down for the count!  It just meant that I needed to change my training to get me back on the pavement.  I needed to rid myself of the negativity and stop internalizing things.  I also needed to clearly understand that if I was truly passionate about running, I needed to accept that setbacks are a part of training, but they are temporary!

My encouragement to you:

Running can be fun!  RELAX and enjoy it.  Take the pressure off.  Join a local run group for the social aspects.  Eliminating the pressure can help with your performance and can reduce the risk of burnout.   Running is mental and physical.  The more your practice this, the more you can change your behavior.  Your mind and body are trainable and will do what you train them to do.

Happy Running!

Yulonda Burris - Founder

SoleSociety Run Club