Ever Take A Break?

I’ve taken a few breaks from running over the almost 3 years that I’ve been running.  The first time was when a co-worker attempted suicide in the fall of 2013.  I initially attempted to deal with it by running away from it.  I think I almost doubled the amount of miles I ran the month prior to his attempt in the month following it.  I then attempted to shift gears with my exercise and wanted to start adding more gym workouts to my routine.  Instead, I stopped doing anything.  I didn’t run for 6 weeks, then went and ran a half marathon…without training for it.  Then I didn’t run for another few weeks, went and ran a 5K.  Then, I didn’t run for another few weeks and then finally started running regularly again on Christmas day.  So, that break was essentially 2.5 months if you don’t count the 2 races I ran during that time.

 

Last year, after my trip home to Oregon, I got a little discouraged about it being so much warmer in Texas than it was in Oregon.  The weather in Oregon in June is fabulous.  It’s perfect for running in the early-mid-morning time.  Texas in June is verging on hades (hades happens in July and continues through the first part of September).  I think I was also a little sad that I was no longer in Oregon with my family and friends that live there.  Anyway, I was able to struggle through one or two runs a week for a few weeks after my return to Texas before stopping altogether for about a month and then I launched myself into marathon training mid-August. 

 

This year, I have only taken a 5 day hiatus from running.  It was mostly for the exact same reason as what I listed for last year’s break.  It also immediately followed my trip to Oregon.  Another added component to why this break happened was that I had intended to run 13.1 miles on Memorial Day in remembrance of the fallen, but that got sidelined by a massive storm that caused lots of flooding and some tornadoes.  Also, for the 2 months leading up to this little 5 day hiatus, I had the looming feeling that I needed a break, but kept pushing it to the side, hoping it would go away because while I needed a break, I didn’t WANT a break.  Well, the break happened, and I think I’m good to go again.  I no longer have the nagging feeling at the back of mind that I need a break.