Trying to make a tough decision - Should I give up my training or not?

JoRocka

I used to love running but now it's starting to feel like a chore

corindeathawk wrote: »

lampeybjones wrote: »

Running a half marathon has been a dream of mine for a while and I was especially excited to run one on Mother's Day, so it pains me to possibly give it up. I used to love running but now it's starting to feel like a chore. I'm now faced with a tough decision - do I continue to run or do I sideline myself?

The bolded part of the your quote says it all. Put it down and do something else for a while. There will be other HMs and other Mother's Days. Life is better when it remains something you love.

I would disagree tremendously with this concept.

I agree she needs to rest- to much too soon- too fast.

But training- for ANYTHING becomes a chore. Training for long term success is not always fun- inspiring- or entertaining. it sucks. Talk to any marathoner- or any competitive lifter- or anyone seriously training.

it becomes a grind. Using your level of entertainment to determine if you should keep going is a bad idea. It's why so few people are successful or we have any master crafters any more- they don't have the drive to stick out the grind to met with their big long term goals.

So yes- she did way to much to soon too fast- and needs to take a break and work back into it- but not because it's a chore- but because she has an actual injury.

corindeathawk

JoRocka, I think we are saying the same thing with different emphasis. You are focusing on the injury and that it needs to heal. I am focusing on the fact that not taking the time to let the injury heal is impacting her attitude towards running in general, and that can be as crippling as the injury itself. Its one thing if running (or whatever) today is a chore because stress/work/kids/life. Agree with that. But when you lose interest in the end goal because every run (or whatever) is a chore, that's bad, and that can be avoided in this case by giving it a rest.

arussell134

JoRocka wrote: »

I used to love running but now it's starting to feel like a chore

corindeathawk wrote: »

lampeybjones wrote: »

Running a half marathon has been a dream of mine for a while and I was especially excited to run one on Mother's Day, so it pains me to possibly give it up. I used to love running but now it's starting to feel like a chore. I'm now faced with a tough decision - do I continue to run or do I sideline myself?

The bolded part of the your quote says it all. Put it down and do something else for a while. There will be other HMs and other Mother's Days. Life is better when it remains something you love.

I would disagree tremendously with this concept.

I agree she needs to rest- to much too soon- too fast.

But training- for ANYTHING becomes a chore. Training for long term success is not always fun- inspiring- or entertaining. it sucks. Talk to any marathoner- or any competitive lifter- or anyone seriously training.

it becomes a grind. Using your level of entertainment to determine if you should keep going is a bad idea. It's why so few people are successful or we have any master crafters any more- they don't have the drive to stick out the grind to met with their big long term goals.

So yes- she did way to much to soon too fast- and needs to take a break and work back into it- but not because it's a chore- but because she has an actual injury.

There is a difference between the daily grind of training and an all-out lack of love for the sport you're training for. As a distance runner, I've experienced both. There was once a time that a marathon training cycle became WAY too much and I listened to my body and quit it. I don't regret it.

I've been putting down some serious miles the last few months, but built up slowly and am now putting in serious work to improve my times. While it's definitely not easy, I've not "outrun" my love of running.

OP, like others have suggested, I do not believe you were prepared to start training for a HM running approx 9 miles per week. I suspect you ran into injuries b/c you upped your miles too quickly, too soon. Take a good recovery cross training, and then when you're ready, slowly build your miles back up (e.g., no more than a 10% increase week over week). After your body has adjusted and can handle say, 20 mpws for a good couple months, then look at starting a HM cycle. I think you'll have a much better, injury-free experience.

JoRocka

I would agree. But I guess saying "it's a chore" just felt a little generic to me- almost like an excuse. We see so often the "I'm bored" with my workout as an excuse to stop doing something and it's like at some point you gotta say- get over it and just go do it- life isn't always FUN. But yes- difference between getting stale on something and just out and out hating the entire concept.

Mr_Knight

Rest. Heal. Restart (if you want) but at much slower pace.

Aed0416

I just joined to try to keep my diet in check while I recovery from an injury and am no longer able to eat what I want because I am no longer running. I was training for a half and two weeks before the race had knee pain, I decided to stop training and rest for the two weeks prior to the race. Race day 1.5 miles in I was in terrible pain and had my first DNF. Dropping out of a race and watching all the other participants run by you while you try to hobble to your car is the worst way possible outcome. Now I am waiting for surgery and then will have to wait through recovery.

It may pain you to give up your dream of running this specific race. However, dedicating more time and energy into it while doing further damage to your body and likely increasing your recovery time will be more painful.
Be smarter than I was.

rileyes

*Taking it slow* seems to be mantra with *becoming a runner* I gave up on becoming a runner because I'm too impatient. There are lots of other sports that don't give you shin splints. And training for them is actually energizing. I ❤️ Tennis. I don't mind working out to be stronger and faster at my sport. And I don't get shin splints any more. You can join the USTA and compete in tournaments for your level. And, I'm sure, there is some type of team sport out there that you would like that will *shut your shins up*.