Mom in the Mtns

As I’ve said before, I took a brief hiatus from running so that I could focus on my wedding.  I remember saying how much I missed running throughout the months of May and June, but every night was filled with seating charts and “oh-so-necessary” DIY projects that I found on Pinterest that took way longer than expected so there was never any time.  I became stressed, tired, and out of shape and the months without running ticked by.  But I knew that I wanted to keep running after the wedding, so back in the cold winter months I signed up to run the Dirty Girl Mud Run at the end of June with my new Sister in Law.  I thought, “Oh how much fun it will be to run a mud run with my “new sister” the weekend after I get back from my honeymoon!”

We’re the ones with tye dye tank tops

Running past my husband on the course!  Not muddy enough yet (although I’m muddier than my Sister in Law!)

Celebratory free beer at the finish!

And while I wasn’t completely wrong – I did have a blast running around Skirmish (probably the best venue for this event in all of PA!) and crawling through mud pits, I was sooooo out of shape.  My Sister in Law clearly wanted to run the whole thing, but my legs had other plans.  It was hot that day, but I was way sweatier after 1 mile than I should have been.  I had to ask her if we could walk many times throughout the run.  After crossing the finish line I was tired, sweaty, and really confused – why was I so tired after only running 1 mile?

I think my biggest problem with running this summer has been the fact that even though I’ve been running since last summer, I haven’t been running the entire time.  Every time I get too lazy, or too tired, or too busy, I just push running to the side and think that when I pick it back up I’ll be right where I left off.  Which is wrong of course.  Even a short break from running can cause you to need to “start over” with running.  And while it’s the most frustrating thing on earth to go from a fast pace and the ability to run long distances to being super out of breath after 2 miles, it’s necessary whenever you have to start running – again.

Runaddicts.com posted this blog entry, which gives tons of great tips on how to get back into running after a break.  It really hit home with me when it talked about how emotional running is, especially when we can’t run up to our usual standards.  I think throughout July and most of August I’ve been feeling a lot of those emotions they listed, and it makes me feel better that it’s a totally normal thing for me to be going through as I struggle to bring up my milage and bring down my pace time.  I’ve been doing well lately, but it’s still hard to keep the self doubt away sometimes when a have a tough run.

Have you ever had to start running again?  How did you keep yourself positive during the process?  And how long did it take you to really get “back” to running?