Finding your confidence in running again

The Black Oil

Mine is gone, and that's been the case for about 2 years now. Partly due to two pretty rubbish marathon performances abroad. I ran the Tallaght AC 5k on St Patrick's Day, which was my first 5k since 2019. I wasn't trying to go all out as I hadn't really done much speed work. Result was 24:35, which was OK. Most people have asked when my next marathon is. Honestly, I've no appetite, focus or confidence to sign up for anything, follow any plans, not even a 5k. About all I've been doing is a strength class since last July twice a week, parkrun pretty much every week, some easy bits after work so as not to sit in traffic. My last LSR was a month ago, yeah I ran 6 times this week. I try to get to the club once a week, if I can and I've been with them at the track in ALSAA too. I know I'm quite unhappy in myself, generally, work and some other stuff which is contributing to a lot of this feeling stuck.

marathon2022

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058348222/finding-your-confidence-in-running-again

Your in a funk alright, if its confidence you want then a plan is your only man. What are your PBs? What's your favorite race? When I go through a run slump and fall back I do my best to not compare to my halcyon days and only look at the previous 6 months times for targets. Before that doesn't really matter in the moment.

24.35 is your 5k target. Hit Malahide or Donabate parkrun some weekend soon and go all out, that's your level. Then start a 5k based plan, 200m reps, hill repeats, buy new fast fast shoes(always a favorite of mine).

On the more important things, like work and general wellbeing the old adage "this too will pass" serves me well. Days are tough sometimes. In the moment its easy to be frustrated with life but running helps me with this, so I would say keep your head up and smile.

Wottle

I've been there and more than once but thankfully no issues since 2017.

I actually wrote a piece on this very subject, hope you find it helpful.

https://davebradshawrunning.blogspot.com/2020/04/lost-my-mojo-help.html

marathon2022

You had me thinking while I was preparing the dinner, what I love about running, what motivates me.

What keeps me going out and training is not the races or PBs it's the days where I can put my shoes on on a sunny Sunday morning and jog 25km across the coast road to howth, meet the misses (she will drive over) and grab some calamari from a stall and just enjoy. It's the fuel I use to get me through a winter 5k session.

Probably worth thinking about what you love about running first,

Although I do love to tell people I run marathons 😁

Duanington

Been there more than once, its a funny one - there's a real risk that the better we perform and the more we take from running, the more we tend to firm it up as our identity. There's nothing like hitting that flow state for 8\10 weeks of training and banging out a PB at the end of it…..which is probably a pretty unhealthy place to be in, ironically - what happens when injury hits? Or when form dips ? When you take away that thing that people use as a fuel for life and almost a reason to get up in the mornings, bad things can happen.

There is a sweet spot though, I think - and for a lot of us it means being realistic with running and what it means to be a runner, its secondary to lots of other things in life.

I've found that removing targets to start with and really learning to just enjoy the training and the process of putting weeks of training together worked wonders for me, and of course, I tend to train and race better as a result 🙄

But it sounds like its a little deeper than that for you, maybe it isn't just a running thing for you, maybe its worth exploring other options outside of running. But from personal experience, we get a little too wrapped up in marathon training to really experience what is great about running - this time of the year is perfect to sign up for some club races and get that social thing going again, I get a lot from just chatting to people in the sunshine after a race, there's a sense of community that most sports just don't have - maybe try tapping into that over the summer months and see if it brings the mood up

Sunny Dayz

I think most runners have fell into a funk with their running at some stage or another. Don't underestimate how much life outside of running, eg work, family stresses, can have an impact on it. If you're not feeling it, don't force it too much, it won't be enjoyable or productive. I fell out of love with running in early 2021 - rolling pandemic lockdowns, work stress, bereavement all took their toll and I stopped for a couple of months. When I started back it was almost like starting from scratch again but I had to be kind to myself and with consistency it came back to me.

I would suggest perhaps arranging to meet a friend or few people for a few runs, it will take the pressure off the act of running and hopefully make it feel more enjoyable. Perhaps go a step further and arrange with a friend to train together for a race in a couple of month's time.

As another poster has suggested - try figure out what made you love running in the first place, why did you start.

ariana`

It sounds like you are still doing quite a lot for someone who has lost mojo so fair play to you for that! Maybe it's a case that you need to give yourself a break and accept that racing just isn't for you right now but that you are still out there running and exercising regularly and that's fantastic, more than a lot of people are doing!

It's fantastic that you are getting out there and embracing the social aspects that running can offer such as parkrun and club runs. I'd say those are the most likely to support you in feeling more positive about yourself and life in general.

If it's a case that you want to race but don't have the confidence then maybe you could see if the club you go to has a group training towards a particular race that you could join with? I know it's hard but try forget your old PBs & paces, and just focus on a goal that feels very manageable and enjoying training with a group.

Personally, I had a similar year last year but very recently (6 weeks ago) I started one of the garmin plans on my watch. I set it so it was very manageable. I'm ticking off the training runs each week and that has made me feel good. Like you I'm trying to do parkrun and club runs to make it more sociable and enjoyable. It takes a conscious effort but I'm trying not to look behind at my old PBs and I'm not looking ahead either. I'm just living/running in the moment, doing each run that's scheduled and not dwell on old paces OR thinking of this as a stepping stone either. Easier said that done sometimes but I know I don't need the pressure it would take to be chasing PBs now, maybe the time will come again or maybe not, maybe I'll chase age related PBs or something else…

Most importantly TBO, mind yourself and you mental health. Don't feel pressured by people asking you about marathons, you don't have to be doing marathons to be a runner! If the people asking you aren't runners tell them you're not targeting a marathon at the moment but you're enjoying your weekly parkrun and maybe they should try it for themselves 😉

Do you partake in parkrun tourism? That's another way of setting yourself little targets that aren't pace related.

Ceepo

Echo all the above advice and just to add.

1, Remember where you are, and not where you came from.

(no one cares, only ourselves)

2, Put the watch away for a few weeks,

3, Forget about targets (races or times)

4, Running is a great way to relieve stress, so keep it up.

We all get caught up in the minute detail of times, pace, HR or what ever and forget to run for the live of running.

Go out and enjoy the your run, whether that is easy or hard. Just let the body be your guide, some days you'll feel like going fast, some days slow,

py

My advice would be to forget about the marathons for a while, it not altogether. The training blocks can be big, another month of taper and recovery. A lot goes into it. If/when it does go wrong it can feel like time wasted. Take a look at some shorter training plans for 5/10Km and go from there. Taper/recovery for these distances is much shorter so not a lot of lost time if it doesn't go to plan - you can go again in a short enough time.

Enter some different races like cross country or trail. IMRA have plenty of races on at the moment.

The Black Oil

Thank you for your thoughts, much appreciated. There has been a lot of tiredness, operating on autopilot. Writing things down is a good idea. I've not done that. I've swapped one of the strength class sessions for stretching lately. I had a thought a few days ago of trying to do around 50k a week purely for some consistency. Mostly easy, obviously.

Yeah, I've done a good bit of parkrun tourism over the last few months. Doing Progression in November too. I've made a friend through running locally, which has been nice and we support and slag each other in equal measure.

24:35 for the Tallaght 5k was a controlled effort. I was faster than that at Vicarstown parkrun earlier this year, 23:11. Pipped that yesterday by one second at Mountlucas, which I was happy with, though again, I wasn't targeting it or following the watch. Would very much recommend visiting there, btw. I know some don't always measure as 5k, both Vicarstown and Mountlucas did. There is the Man O War 7k in August, which I've not done since 2021 as I tend to marshal. It would be good to wear the club shirt again, not far from home on a fine summer's evening.

Still not following a plan of any description. Threw my name into the hat for London, we'll see.

SuspectZero

I've suffered with this a lot and have tried numerous different approaches over the years. The approach that worked best for me probably flies in the face of conventional wisdom as my issues tend to lie in me being a little scatterbrained and losing direction more than purely motivation. But I've found that sitting down and booking races when I'm in that funk actually helps and that booking beyond a goal race even moreso. Having established targets really motivates me to take it up a notch.

As for booking beyond goal races, the reasoning is simple, marathons can go to sh!t and its a lot of buildup and energy focused into one day and when they do, it can feel like the world has ended even if your training went amazing, it can feel like you got nothing from it, I found that having something lined up to switch focus to like a half or 10k a little after can keep you looking forward and focusing on all the good the whole training block done you rather than the result if it goes pearshaped. Bad races happen whether it was through luck or mistakes, but overall progression can still be present and is no accident. I've actually seen the running GOAT Kenneisa Bekele use a similar strategy to this in the last few years too as even he has issues with running funks.

As for goal setting, I found the best approach was finding one that gets you excited, something that might feel a bit out there and requires you to up your game and commit to it in your head. You may or not hit it but that's not the point, you are looking for overall progress and anything that motivates you is good. As for what constitutes progress, progress is anything that improves your running from where you are now, not wherever you were. Forget about PB's, look for seasons beats and eventually maybe look for improvement over previous years i.e fastest 5k in 2 years, 4th fastest 5k ever etc. Find the positives in your progress. You want to try start with the mindset that you never ran a race before your funk and get back in that beginner mindset of just looking forward to making progress