Get faith and culture news for women here
  • Home
  • My Book: Leaving Cloud 9
  • About
    • Family
  • My Writing
  • Book Reviews
  • Podcast

Ericka Andersen

The Sweet Life with Ericka

Navigation
You are here: Home / Uncategorized / How to Get Back into Running After Taking Time Off

How to Get Back into Running After Taking Time Off

February 15, 2013 by Ericka

Share this post
Pinterest0
Twitter0
Facebook0
Google+0

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

*While I’m out…: Today, I’m excited to have a guest post from Carly from CarlyBananas! I love reading Carly’s blog — especially because she lives in the DC-area and I can often relate to many of her running stories. Plus, she’s hilarious — on the blog and in real life šŸ™‚ Check out the guest post below and be sure to add Carly to your regular reading list!
I’ve had a bit of a tumultuous relationship with running lately… so much so that I wrote it a break up letter back in November. I went from feeling like this about running:
To just totally resenting every run and disliking every mile.  But now that it’s been awhile, I’m slowly making my way back to running and finding a method to make it easier on myself. Here are my top tips for getting back into running after a break – without making yourself crazy:
1.     Go easy. Think about your easy runs before you took a break and go easier and shorter.  My first few runs back have been quite slow and based totally on exertion and not time.  I didn’t wear my Garmin and I just turned on my Nike+ app and locked my phone screen and just put it in my pocket.  Think about breathing and feeling comfortable and don’t worry about time!
2.     Don’t worry about signing up for a goal race.  I know, it’s the opposite of what most people say when people start running: sign up for a race to motivate yourself.  But I’ve found that the easiest way to re-burnout is to get right back into planning for a race and making sure I’m covering a fixed number of miles.  This spring, I don’t have a goal race. If I find a race I want to do then I’ll sign up and do it. It feels freeing to just run to run. 
3.     Try some new routes.  Like Ericka, I’m lucky to live near some of the most gorgeous scenery in the country.
 Go and see something new on your runs.  If you live somewhere where that’s not an option, try running your normal route in reverse or try running at a different time of day.  Even the smallest change in routine can make a run feel new and exciting.
4.     Try planning your runs in minutes.  When I’m fortunate enough to go on a lunch run during the work day it a nice change to think of my run in terms of minutes.  It doesn’t matter how far I go or how fast I’m running. I only have a fixed amount of time to run at lunch, usually around 45 minutes, and I want to make the most out of it.  As the time ticks by I wish I had more time to run before going back to work. It totally changes that ā€œOh, I need to run 3-4 milesā€ to ā€œYay, 45 minutes away from my desk!ā€
5.     Remember that this is a hobby. Sometimes I fall into the trap of taking running really seriously. But really, this is just my hobby and I will never be any level of a professional.  If a hobby starts becoming to stressful or not fun, it’s time to reevaluate.  A lot of people have really inspirational running mantras…mine is ā€œThis is your hobby and you love what you’re doing.ā€
Do you have any tips that I missed? Have you ever taken an extended break from running and then gotten back into it?

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: running

« Homemade Coffee Maker Made Easy
Dominican Republic Perfection »

Comments

  1. Emily Mendoza says

    February 15, 2013 at 8:11 am

    I enjoyed this post by Carly. Thanks for sharing! Makes me want to get out and run—because I enjoy it, not because I have to.

  2. Emily Mendoza says

    February 15, 2013 at 1:11 pm

    I enjoyed this post by Carly. Thanks for sharing! Makes me want to get out and run—because I enjoy it, not because I have to.

  3. Amy@spotonwellness says

    February 18, 2013 at 5:22 am

    Hi Carly… Great post. I can TOTALLY relate! Yes, I have had the same "break-up" from running and have not ran since September šŸ™ I do miss it, especially in the winter, but was SO burnt out, I had to take a break. I have had the itch to get back out and plan to do so soon. I agree with ALL of your tips and also think that finding a buddy to keep accountable to REALLY helps. I have created a "Keep me accountable" page on FB so I can and others can keep accountable and moving forward šŸ™‚ Love the post and I am going to check out your "regular" blog too!

  4. Amy@spotonwellness says

    February 18, 2013 at 10:22 am

    Hi Carly… Great post. I can TOTALLY relate! Yes, I have had the same "break-up" from running and have not ran since September šŸ™ I do miss it, especially in the winter, but was SO burnt out, I had to take a break. I have had the itch to get back out and plan to do so soon. I agree with ALL of your tips and also think that finding a buddy to keep accountable to REALLY helps. I have created a "Keep me accountable" page on FB so I can and others can keep accountable and moving forward šŸ™‚ Love the post and I am going to check out your "regular" blog too!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Welcome! I'm Ericka: Writer, podcaster, wife, mother, runner and Enneagram 4! I write about faith + politics + addiction + church planting. I wrote a book once too -- see below!

Leaving Cloud 9: The True Story of a Life Resurrected From the Ashes of Poverty, Trauma & Mental Illness

My Podcast: Worth Your Time

Most Popular Posts

Popular posts

Why I Don’t Read the Reviews

"Someone else's opinion of you is none of your … [Read More...]

Jennifer Allwood: Fear is Not the Boss of You

Jennifer Allwood is one of the most practical, … [Read More...]

Abigail Grace: The Birth Story

Hey everyone -- meet my daughter, Abigail Grace … [Read More...]

Nano 4.0

Nano 4.0: Reebok Nano’s New CrossFit Shoe

*This post is sponsored by Fitfluential, LLC on … [Read More...]

Honest-Tea!

How can you not like a company called Honest? How … [Read More...]

Dear Jacob Part I

Dear Jacob, This is the first time I've sat … [Read More...]

Boot Camp Changes Lives :)

When I was 12 years old, I found a brochure in my … [Read More...]

Crossfit: What I’m Learning About Me

Goals? I hope I look half this good in six months … [Read More...]

All the Fall Things

Fall hasn't been so fun for me in YEARS. There are … [Read More...]

Shrimp & Goat Cheese Pizza

So while I was laid up like a cripple yesterday, I … [Read More...]

Copyright © 2021 · WordPress Maintenance & support by Fixrunner.com · Built on the Genesis Framework

Copyright © 2021 Ā· Genesis Child Theme on Genesis Framework Ā· WordPress Ā· Log in