Sometimes life gets in the way! No matter how much you love running (or even love to hate it) sometimes we are forced to take a step back and focus on other things. Running After a break can be challenging but there are a few ways to make it easier, both mentally and physically!
Running is such a beneficial activity that overcoming your challenges to start again is more than worth it! Once you get past the initial re-starting phase and make exercise into a habit again then your sure to realize that the benefits far outweigh any misgivings you might be having. If you have active dogs then you might consider teaching them to run with you too!
Running After a Break, How To Get Your Mojo Back.
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Forgive Yourself
It’s really easy to look back at our past and feel bad for the choice’s we have made. Sometimes we even feel guilty for things that are completely out of our control or just plain bad luck!
I recently took a break from running while the kids were out of school. That’s two months of no running! Trying to find time to run with a new puppy, kids too young to be left alone and a husband whose job frequently has him gone for an entire week just wasn’t working out! Of course, I felt bad about it and I missed running like crazy but sometimes life just happens!
I knew I would go back to running once school started again and I knew that in order to enjoy my return to running I would have to let go of any guilt I harbored from the past. It doesn’t matter why you had to stop the first time just focus on the fact that you’re getting back to it now!
Lower Your Expectations
I’ve found that people have this really bad habit of expecting everything performance to be as good as their best performance. One day a few months ago maybe you ran a 10-minute mile, maybe that was the best you have ever done and you felt amazing! You should be proud, that was a wonderful goal to reach!
But…
You shouldn’t expect yourself to be able to recreate that run after a long break. It’s important to remember that it will take time to build yourself back to that level again.
That’s not to say that you’re starting completely from scratch, however! All the experience, lessons and tricks you learned the first time around are completely valid. All of your experience just means that you will rebuild better and faster than the first time. Use this fresh start to build good base mileage and instill safe running habits that will make your second attempt stronger and better than your first!
End On A Good Note
It’s easy to go out for that first run after a break and feel the need to test yourself. This is widely considered to be a bad idea! It unlikely that going out after a break and running as far and as fast as you used to be capable of will end well. Even if you don’t hurt yourself in the process it’s unlikely that you’ll be happy with the results. It’s more likely that you’ll just become discouraged and unmotivated.
Instead, go out for that first run and focus on enjoying yourself. Go at a comfortable pace and for a distance that doesn’t push yourself too hard. Run until your winded but not struggling terribly. Ending the run on a high note means that you’re less likely to feel horribly sore the next day, injure yourself by trying to do too much to fast and getting discouraged. A good tactic for building healthy new habits is to do so with baby steps! If you enjoy your runs you are far more likely to keep them up. Distance and speed can come later – once the habit is fully established again.
Follow All the Tricks You Learned Before
If you had a favorite way to stay motivated while running before then use what you learned during this second time around! When a specific running time or schedule made your runs fun or particularly beneficial then go back to it (just modify the distance and speed as needed).
If part of the reason you took a break was that your training schedule failed you for one reason or another then use those lessons to craft a new one that will work better. If you injured yourself, build slower! If you found it too difficult to run in the morning try going in the evening. Sometimes the most valuable lessons we learn are what we need to change!
Run Because You WANT Too
Above all else, it’s important to realize that this time around you are starting again because you WANT to run. Running for health benefits and other such motivations are great and for some people can be highly motivational but the best reason to run is that it makes you happy! There is a saying in running – Never outrun your love of running – and this is a great thing to keep in mind when you get started again. Set goals, try your best but always, run because you want too!
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