Happy Monday and weekly check-in

[ell]

Firstly:
Congrats to losingit and everyone who raced this weekend! If you haven't done so already, tell us how your race went, we'd love to hear about it and congratulate you!

Second:
Inspiring quote for today:
Take care of yourself. Eat well, rest, train hard and smart, make time to think and breathe. Be intentional with your time.

-Kristin Armstrong, Author and runner

And lastly:
Any difficult goals you're stretching for this season? How do you deal with the fall/winter blahs and bad weather if you're Northern Hemisphere and the transition to summer race readiness for those of you in the South?

Comments

[linaelyn]

This is a week where I need moral support. (thanks, ell, for reminding me that this community is tolerant of that - supportive, even!)

I've been running a haphazard schedule, just trying to keep my legs and lungs strong in preparation for the winter asthma season. Usually, Monday 5K, Wednesday 7K, Friday or Saturday 5K.

Last week, I ran on Monday, but have been too depressed to run since. Just getting dressed and getting my kids to their events is an effort. (note: I'm being good about taking my antidepressant, and this depression is caused by a specific event in my personal life, last week. I am likely to be depressed about that situation for some time to come, though.)

How do you motivate yourself when it's hard to even contemplate the effort of tying your Asics?

[ell]

*hug*

It's hard, sometimes. I've got a few things that help me sometimes:

- Make a plan to run with a person. Then I have to run because someone else is counting on me to show up
- Running schedules: It really helps me when I put things on my google training calendar. It somehow takes the onus off me to motivate myself. It's even more helpful when someone else makes the schedule (but that's my Catholic guilt kicking in and YMMV)
- I think about how good I know I will feel at the end when I'm all sweaty and the endorphins are kicking in. I know I'll feel better during and after.
- This one is weird, but sometimes I put on my running shoes and shorts just in case and wear them for doing other stuff, then when/if I get the energy level high enough - I'm already ready and I don't need that extra bit to get ready...

[linaelyn]

Thanks for the practical tips, Ell. You're a treasure.

I've been meaning to run with YK more often this fall. This gives me a great excuse, and the "schedule" will be dictated by "Have we done homeschool PE today? No? All right, then! Lace your sneakers!"

I am old enough and wise enough to remember that I *do* feel better when I run, even if I don't feel like anything could possibly ever be fun, ever again, blah blah blah, woe is me, think I'll go eat worms...

And Estel would love it if I wore my teeny little running shorts all the time. I'm just sayin'. ;-D

Thanks again for the good advice.

[ilanarama]

For me, running is my therapy. It's a reward, it's an escape. If you can bring yourself to that space, where running is not something you "have" to do but something you "long" to do, it can help with bad episodes.

Good luck getting through your depression, whatever it takes.

[linaelyn]

I agree with you, running is my therapy, and my escape. Unlike most of my running partners, I run because it's fun, not because it's good for me. But this exactly *why* I run into trouble -- even though it's good for me, and even *better* for me when I am depressed, I an unused to running for any reason other than the sheer *JOY* of getting out there and running! When I'm depressed, I can't see the joy in anything, so it's harder to run for the fun of it.

I long to long for running again. :-} I appreciate your input and perspective, here, though. Thanks.

Getting through being depressed is going to be a "Time Heals All Wounds" exercise. Let's just say endings suck, but eventually I'll be able to see that it also makes life sweeter that all things in existence are finite.