Lack of Motivation = Lack of Skills

Lately I’ve been struggling with some motivation. Throughout my training, motivation hasn’t really been a problem. It felt like a routine for awhile, actually. I had a busy summer too... Took trips to Bear Lake, Tahoe, St.George, a few camping trips, and two hunting trips. Throughout all that time though, I never experienced problems with getting up and getting out there, even if it meant finding a random road or trail to run on (except when I was hunting; I was doing enough miles hiking). The past few weeks however, have not been so good to me. Somewhere along the way, I lost that motivation and got out of the routine. I believe it has something to do with the fact that now I’m on the downside of my training schedule. The Taper! I realized that the lack of motivation started the week after my longest training week. Coincidence? Doubtful. Since that time I’ve been lucky to get out 3 or 4 times a week, where as at my peak I was doing 5 or 6 days a week, no problem.

Luckily, I don’t feel like I’ve lost much in the endurance category. I’m just running a bit sloppier now. It’s like I just jumped off the teacups at Disneyland; arms flailing, hunched over and wobbly on my legs (so I’m a little dramatic). I’ve also put on a couple pounds since I’m not running as much, which definitely doesn’t help my cause. My leg turnover isn’t as fast and I’m disgusted just about every minute I run. Throw in some heat and you’ll catch me cursing under my breath, wondering why I would choose to torture myself in such ways.

I still desire to continue running, though. I read about running and I think about it all day. Those are positives to come away with, for sure. My guess is once the marathon is over (15 days, but who’s counting?), I’ll get my motivation back. I’ll have another goal to shoot for and a new training schedule to begin. Being on the down-slope isn’t much fun, but eventually I gotta learn how to get over this ‘dark side depression’. Hopefully the skills will then follow suit.