Yesterday, I went on a run for the first time in nearly a week and a half (the last one was my annual DC Christmas tree light run). I can’t even remember the last time I went so long without running, but I wasn’t craving a run (and over the weekend when I was, it was too icy), so I didn’t force myself to get one in until I really wanted to.
I’ve felt super burned out on running since the Marine Corps Marathon, unsurprisingly. Lots of travel, trying to squeeze in crazy long runs on weekdays, running in extreme heat – all of those were a recipe for losing my running mojo, so after the race I’ve been enjoying mixing it up with a lot more boot camps and strength work – and more rest days, too. It’s been fun, and I definitely want to keep up with the strength – it feels good to be challenging myself in a different and new way.
This last stretch was the longest I went in between runs, though, and although I know a week and a half of no running probably doesn’t sound like much, it is when you’re used to always running 3 days a week – and when a lot of your social time is run dates. 🙂 Needless to say, by the time yesterday came around I was excited and ready to get out there. It reminded me why I love running so much in the first place – it felt like coming home.
I met my friend Karen for a DC bridge loop (starting in Georgetown, we ran over Key Bridge, along the Mt. Vernon Trail, back over Memorial Bridge, then along the waterfront back to Georgetown). The weather was cold (low 30’s) but sunny and not windy for once – perfection. It felt so right to be back out there in my favorite city with a good friend by my side, and we spent the whole time chatting away as usual. We were surprised when we saw my watch after we finished – speedy! Time flies when you’re having fun.
It’s weird because after so many years of constantly racing and running and training, a lot of my identity is wrapped up in being a runner. It’s nice (and necessary) to take a break, but at the same time, I always feel like something is missing when I don’t run for awhile, even if I’m still doing other fitness stuff. Does anyone else feel this way?
I guess I’ve just been feeling a bit adrift lately in general, both with running and life, and struggling to find the right balance, especially with work. When I get too busy, I feel overwhelmed and like I don’t have the time to really offer up my best, but when I try intentionally to give myself more time and space, that can leave me feeling anxious, lonely, and uninspired. I’m not really sure what to do about it, to be honest.
I absolutely love my AnneTheRD nutrition client work, and I feel that I’m in a good place with that with a client volume that feels balanced, but I haven’t been feeling as inspired or excited lately about blogging. I’m certainly not planning to quit or anything – but I’m trying to figure out how to get my mojo back. Part of it is I find myself really missing having coworkers and people to actively collaborate with in person (rather than just virtually, which is also cool but not the same at all) – it helps me to stay excited and creative to have others involved. But another big part of it is just feeling like there’s such information overload nowadays. When I started my blog back in 2009, there was much less going on on the internet, and I felt readers (including myself) had the time and energy to really read and engage with blogs. Now it seems like there’s so much going on online, constantly jostling for everyone’s attention, that it’s hard to feel like I’m still here offering something interesting or worthwhile. I also feel like in order to continue to get traffic there’s so much pressure to have every post be polished/fancy, optimized for Google, pimped out with pin-able graphics, shared and scheduled a billion times on social media, etc. – that it takes a lot of the joy out of posting. I guess it just feels more like work now than it used to because there’s always something more I feel like I should/could be doing, and that leaves me feeling like I don’t want to do anything at all. I miss when posting felt more natural and simple – I popped in and said hi and that was it – no writing for SEO, no spending ages putting together graphics, no strategy and hours spent on social media. I struggle with wanting to go back to just doing that and with being smart about working to grow my blog/business.
Anyway – I’m not sure why I randomly went on this tangent with you guys today, but when I sat down to write today’s post it just started to come out and it felt right to share how I’ve been feeling. If you have any tips or thoughts, I’d welcome them, and if you just want to say hi, I’d love that, too. 🙂 Thank you for being here – I appreciate you guys so much.
Have a good one, my friends – get out and do something that makes you smile. 🙂
xo
