This is a running blog, after all, and I haven’t been talking about running much, lately. The simple answer for that: I haven’t been running much, lately. I actually haven’t run at all (except for a handful of times) since the Star City Half, which was the weekend before Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving I walked a 5K with my Dad and sister, and broke in my new pair of running shoes.
Aren’t they pretty? These are my replacement shoes for the ones that broke right before the Marine Corps Marathon at the end of October. Hoka One One didn’t carry the model that I had, so they gave me the newer model instead. The good news is they feel great to run in (which I did earlier this week with Sven, the treadmill).
The whole week of Thanksgiving was really busy for me. I had a lot to do in advance to prepare for having my dad and sister stay with us, and to host the actual dinner at our house. So running kind of got pushed to the back burner. Once everyone headed home I was pretty worn out, so I chose to spend my time hanging out with friends, cleaning, and wrapping Christmas gifts.
It’s time to get back to running, though. I have a holiday-themed 5K tomorrow that I’m running with Barry – together, but not together. I also need to get out on the trails more, since I have a whole bunch of trail races coming up this spring, which I’m really excited about. More on that sometime in the near future.
The only challenge with getting trail time is that I typically run trails on the weekend. I’m not quite sure how much running I’ll be able to do on the weekends for the rest of this year, since I’m going to be out of town nearly every weekend until New Years. But I always feel better when I’m running regularly. I make better food choices, I feel less sluggish/tired, and in general I’m just in a better mood. I think I handle difficult or stressful situations better when I run, too.
It’s good to take a break every now and then, and even have an off season. I’ve read in Running Times that some elites will actually take an entire month off after their racing seasons. But it’s time to get back to business and start running regularly again. And I intend to do just that.
How do you find motivation to run after a big race/long training cycle?
Have you started planning races for 2015?
Turkey Runner 
Will have to let you know after Christmas. My turn to host!
LUD.
Looking forward to it!
Yay for new shoes!! It’s always nice to support a company w/ good customer service. I think after your vigorous marathon training a little break is well deserved! I’m sure you & Barry will have a blast at your holiday race. They are so much fun! I am not really planned races for 2015 but I do have a couple I will try to do…I’m very much a last-minute (even race day) registrant.
Definitely! Of course, right after saying I’d like to get back onto a normal running schedule, I come down with another bad sinus infection. At least this time I only waited 3 days to go to the doctor instead of 3 weeks (like back in September/October!).
Remember when I said that I was going to take two week off from running after the Hokie Half, and I lasted one week? We runners are kind of set in our ways.. 😉
We certainly are creatures of habits. I just don’t feel like ‘me’ when I’m not running regularly.