I love Buddy Running. It really makes such a difference, especially on days when you really, really aren't feeling it. It's those days when you could easily talk yourself out of getting out there, but can't (or won't) because someone else is counting on you.Accountability is where it's at, folks. Just sayin'.
After a two week absence, my running buddy Sheila finally decided to get back in the swing of things and run with me (something about getting married and honeymooning in Florida...I don't know...). We decided to head out after work and meet up at the Tweetsie Trail...our favorite. It was rainy, windy and cold, and I've been fighting a mental slump like crazy this month...I think it's the change of seasons and the overcast skies that is doing it...but since Sheila showed up, I had to.
And of course, I was not sorry that I did.
I've missed running the Tweetsie. I've missed warmth and heat and sunshine beating down and sweat soaking my shirt. Yes, I know I'm crazy, but cold gets in my bones...and apparently, my head....and I just can't seem to shake the funk. It really, really helped that Sheila was there to take my mind off of my misery. She was really worried (as always) that she would hold me back, given that I pushed so hard last week while she was gone, and got my paces down in the 11's. But sometimes, I think I push myself too hard. I've accomplished so much since I started running again, back in April, and I need to celebrate that, and enjoy where I am, too. So, I told her to set the pace and I would run with her. If she ran, I would run. If she needed to walk, I would walk with her.
It wound up that there were a couple of times where I found myself struggling more than she did, and she actually wound up pushing me, when I might have thrown in the towel, otherwise. Buddies aren't just good for accountability in showing up....buddies save lives, too.
Sheila gets me, thank God. That's why I need her so much. Yes, it's good for me to run alone sometimes...to clear my head, to push hard, to work things out. But it's also good for me to run with her...maybe because she forces me to pace myself more, and give my body (and more importantly, my head) a chance to slow down and give myself a much-needed break. No, we did not get into the 11's. We didn't even finish in the 12's, although we started out really strong. Our pace wound up being 13:46 for the almost 4-mile run, and that included a good bit of walking...and I was perfectly fine with that, because it meant that I got more running in than I would have if I'd run alone (for sure)...and I got some great girl time in with my BRB.
It's not important that I break the sound barrier when I run...or even that I ran better or faster than the last time I ran. What's important is that I ran at all...that I got out there, that I made the effort, that I put in the work to get me that much closer to goal, that I held myself accountable, even in the face of my Fall Funk.....and that I came out victorious.
This week, once again, I'm going to be short on my runs, due to company coming in town this weekend. Today is a run day, and it will probably be the last run I get this week...certainly the last one before my Friday Weigh-in, so I'm incredibly happy that Sheila will be running with me again this afternoon. Regardless of our speed, her support right now is invaluable, and I'm gonna do my best to make sure she knows it.
How about you? Do you suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (the reason for my funk)? How do you power through when you don't feel like getting out there, or just feel 'off'?
