Sometimes all you need is a running buddy

This is my “official” race day photo from the Buffalo County Stampede. This is the girl I wrote about in my post race recap that gave me a little encouragement/motivation to make it to the finish line.  I have no idea who she is, but she helped me, that’s all I know!  This is right at mile 12.  And I look very tired. I was feeling really good until about mile 11 (when I got my horrible side cramp). Me and this woman ran together for, it must’ve been for about 2 miles now that I think about it. At one point I started to slow down and she said to me, “We’re almost there! Come on!” Which is similar encouragement that I gave to here a mile previous as I passed her while she took a walk break.

Sometimes that’s all we need, is a little motivation. After my half marathon about a week ago, I’ve been taking it easy…and not necessarily by choice. I took the immediate day after off by choice to rest my legs, but to be honest, I wasn’t that sore. My calves were a little tight; I think that might be also due to the soccer game I played that same night.  I tried running the next day, but it was a stop/go kinda effort. My body just wasn’t feeling it, and as the week went on, my mind wasn’t in it either. I had a horrible week, HORRIBLE.

Usually running helps, but I have not been able to find my motivation. This time running is not saving me and is not able to take my mind off my immediate troubles. Running is usually a time for me to just be by myself; sometimes I work through my worries, sometimes I just listen to my feet on my sidewalk. This week is different. Usually when I don’t get my runs in, I feel like my strength and speed deteriorate immediately, and I hate that feeling. I KNOW this is not true, and it IS alright to take breaks, especially after a half. Plus, I have no huge races for awhile. My next race is in 3 weeks, and it’s only a 5K.

I started my weekend by trying another run, but it again was a stop/go effort. Today (sunday) I’m going to recharge my batteries and enjoy a full day music festival (Warped Tour is in town, and I’m luckily enough to live pretty much across the street from the venue!) and hope Mr. Motivation will rejoin me on Monday.

I hope everyone else races and/or runs went well this weekend!