Buttsweat Towel© season has begun

I certainly know how you feel. I have been going through the same thing for quite some time, actually.

I was wondering about this. Does this stem from a feeling from you guys that you have already acheived everything you wanted to in this sport? Or is this a cyclical thing, where the summer's heat has beaten you down, and when the temps drop, you bounce back? Or has your non-running life really got in the way of your running life? I've had my share of "What am I doing?" moments lately.

I'll let dh answer for himself, but I've been thinking about this a lot lately...

Deep thoughts... by SlowJoe....

Summer does beat you down, but in the past I've been a lot more excited about fall. Not so much this year. For me, I almost think my running success has an inverse relationship with non-running success. I started running when I was going through a tough time in 2009 after a deployment. Later, I qualified for Boston, knocking 15 min of my PR, all while I was preparing to get out of the military and was super stressed because I couldn't find a job. Now I'm pretty satisfied with everything and focused on work and family, and running is mostly an afterthought. Definitely want to achieve more with running, but apparently I don't want it bad enough.

I guess if the fire for running does come back, then I'm wrong, and will go with the cyclical summer thing.

There is nothing wrong with running for the enjoyment of it. I am having a lot of fun running just because I can and not even thinking about racing or competing. It seems that a lot of people don't give themselves the chance to love running and run with no plan in mind. It's actually quite invigorating. Just keep yourself in decent shape so that it doesn't take too long to be back where you want once you are excited about training again (which will happen).

That's a really good point Andrea. I'd love to rediscover the "just because" run. But I also love(d) putting together a super challenging training plan and following it through.

Sorry Joe. I don't mean to drop a deep question on you, and then bug out. But now my non-running life is now calling me, and I hope to continue this later. That's wild about the "inverse relationship" thing, though.

Strong run, Joe. You are on to something about running well in times that are, well, not well.

If most other things in your life feel in line, there's something to that. The running will take care of itself.

On the outside observer side of things, you're knocking on the 140-lb range and 2000 miles :) I also thing Rob's goals are good advice for running in general:

"Have fun, not get fat, stay fit," and "keep running in some fashion."

Nothing wrong with running for the sake of enjoying running, and as an outlet to balance out some of the other things going on in life (even if they are GOOD things, which in your case it sounds like they are, and that's great).

I think most of us go through cycles where training becomes less important. Sometimes the cycles are weeks, sometimes they are years. I've had it both ways. But once you start running in some capacity, it tends to be a part of you whether you like it or not :-)

Great splits on that run Joe! Interesting thoughts being put out there. Good to hear life is good, Joe, and glad to see running helped you get there. ;)

Even if running is now an afterthought, it does seem to be a sizeable one.

Wow, for the 'casual' runner, those are pretty fantastic splits! Balance in life trumps running accomplishments any day, and personally I agree that running benefits from challenging times, as for me it becomes a way to channel the 'I will succeed' mentality that we carry over into our everyday lives! My prediction ... as it gets closer to Boston ... you will see that fire reignite ... even if slightly modified to keep the balance with family/career. Cheers!

my running desires cycle, for a variety of reason...

Cycling is the thing, but it's too valuable to let it go -- not that you would.

Ahhhh man I missed Fall! I can't believe I was out of town for the one and only day! (you know we only get 1 day of fall and 1 day of spring here in Texas) Now for the "deep" thought:

I Just Run

Only crazy people go out and run almost 15 miles when they're not loving running :)

You know, thinking about the whole running thing - I think it's like anything in life. But it's important to keep plugging away at it even when you don't want to.

What wears me down is marathon training, and the miles, e.g. getting up at 5 am to go run a 14 mile progressive run on a Thursday. I mean, why?

Runners talk about time away from other things but what is rarely talked about is the effect of hard training. Can I focus at work? Am I too tired in the evening to focus on my family? How does running 20 miles on a Saturday affect the rest of my day and the quality of my day? For me I am usually burnt out and need to take a nap. So there is another hour away from other things. After one has run 10 plus marathons it's hard to get motivated to go through all of that again - for me at least.

The heat has certainly taken it's toll on me. I have found enjoyment in running again these past few days with the cooler temps.

However, I can go out for 45 minutes to an hour a day at an easy pace no problem. It's long enough to get some benefit but not too long to wear me out the rest of the day. I think there are way too many benefits from running, I don't want to list them all here, for me to ever stop. In a great irony, I feel pretty lousy if I don't get my run in. It really comes down to balance. Anything too extreme is probably not good for you over time.

The bright side for you is that 5k-10k training doesn't take the same commitment as marathon training does. I know it's hard for a marathoner to give up miles, but we do not need to be doing 15 mile runs training for the shorter races. The individual workouts can be harder, but the mileage and time commitment can be much less. I know this because it was true for me last fall.

So I say embrace the training for a 5k. Cut back the mileage and time commitment, and go break 18:00. Then work on breaking 38:00 in the 10k. And if you ever get fed up, go out for a few easy 45-60 min runs.

Thanks for the comments all, good discussion! dh - I already feel a little better after running in the 60s for a couple days too. I think when I start to get some better results, I'll look forward to the training even more.