Motivation Flip-Flop

After my 14 mile long run on Sunday, my motivation was a total flop. I had tweaked my back somehow. I could barely do 4 miles on Tuesday, my back hurt so bad. Thank goodness I'm an athletic trainer and have access to therapeutic modalities like electrical stimulation and awesome ice bags.

I don't stretch very often, but I was stretching like a crazy woman. I iced my back like 3 times on Tuesday, took some ibuprofen, and took the day off from running on Wednesday.

This morning, I planned to get up in the morning and do an easy run to see how my back felt, but I stayed in bed. I'm really not much of a morning runner. I work from 10am - 7pm most days. If I don't get up in the morning to run, it's dark when I get off work and I usually just end up running on the treadmill at work (I hate the treadmill). My motivation was at an all-time low. I didn't want to run on the treadmill, I didn't want my back to hurt anymore, I just wanted to be able to run and feel good doing it. I'm in week 6 of my training for Boston, and only have 6 more weeks of good training before I taper. And I definitely do not want a set back in my training.

Luckily for me, it was exceptionally warm out today, so when I got off work at 7pm, it was still warm. In fact, the weather felt absolutely perfect. As soon as I got home, I changed to run and headed out to the track at the near by high school. The track doesn't have lights, but the moon was high and the lights from the surrounding buildings were just enough. The track workout is just what I needed.

Talk about a major confidence booster!! I couldn't see my splits after each lap because of the dim light, so all I could see were my final times. With each mile repeat I did, my time got faster! I was busting out times that I hadn't seen since my final college cross country season! I felt good and I felt strong!

I feel so pumped! I was pretty much dreading my long run this week, but now I'm looking forward to it!
It's amazing what one great workout can do for your motivation!