Ready to run again!

Made a new friend on my run 🏃‍♂️ this morning! 

I’m trying to be more consistent with my morning jogs like I was for so many years. 

If you’ve been having a hard time motivating yourself, it’s often helpful to ask yourself, “why am I not doing what I say I want to do?”

I was talking to a friend to sort it out, it helps me more than just saying it to myself (which is how coaching works—and why having a coach is helpful 😉). After 16 years of coaching others, I use the same techniques on myself. 

I realized that a few major factors were affecting me: 

1. I moved across the country to a totally new climate and elevation—from 39 feet above sea level to 7100 feet and the drop in humidity also affected my breathing. I have both asthma & a heart murmur so I’m mindful that my body isn’t like other peoples’ bodies.

2. I had a job when I moved here and had to at my desk by 7am until 3 or 4 in the afternoon. I don’t like exercising in the afternoon and it’s also the hottest part of the day. While I AM an early bird, it was tough to rise at 5 or 5:30am, get a good breakfast in and be ready to work at 7am AND EXERCISE—so the morning exercise routine I had been nurturing for YEARS totally dropped off.

3. That job was incredibly stressful—TOXIC to the max in more ways than I can name—and it was on the heels of a few years of intense stress starting in 2020. I know you probably can relate! My nervous system was totally maxed out and even though I knew exercise is so good as a stress reliever, this last year my mind and body kept choosing stillness and less movement as a means of survival. This was all subconscious, but I can see it now in hindsight.

4. That morning running habit I had before that I was so proud of?? It was also a survival strategy. I can see now I was using that running habit as a means to cope with INTENSE stress for MANY YEARS. And that was great in some ways at the time, but it was also me checking out from dealing with the stressors in different ways. 

When running felt HARD, I knew it wasn’t right. Now, the past two days it feels easier and I feel much stronger! This is from listening to my body when it needed substantial REST to heal. And now it is ready to run again. 

I hope this helped you, even if “running” isn’t where you’re stuck today ;).