Runner lost my mojo

[MyGhastIsFlabbered]

I used to love running, I was never fast but it gave me such a buzz. I did a very slow marathon last year and since then I’ve just lost my love for it. I’ve started caring too much about how fast everyone else is and now haven’t run for months. I was supposed to be doing the same marathon next month but haven’t trained for it so there’s no way that can happen.

I hate the thought of never running again but at the moment equally I hate the thought of running and it actually gives me anxiety.

Any tips to get my mojo back or should I just leave it and see if it comes back on its own?

I hear you! Trying to rediscover the love too

I don't think I have never run a 5k in under 30 mins and I am very unlikely to now! Whenever I've had a long break from running, just getting out there for 20 minutes makes me feel like a runner again, I have gone back to walk - run several times too.

I think you need to take it back for yourself again, you're not doing it to be able to run at a particular pace, but for the headspace, the being outdoors, the endorphins, maybe ditch the running club for a bit, or find a chatty friend to run with?

(And you are amazing to have completed a marathon, no matter how long it took! It is still a very long way to be on your feet and takes a lot of mental strength to keep going)

7hrs for a marathon. Were you the one who did it in a diving suit?

Ok, I’m going to say this gently, you need to take some personal responsibility. If you have child hood trauma, seek therapy, I’m sorry that happened to you. If your husband puts too much pressure on, speak to him, if he’s abusive, then end the marriage.

but the point remains. Whay you’re posting is not about being perfect, or competing with youself, it is about wanting to be lauded for running and a desire to win,

so it’s up to you, do you want to run as you enjoy it, then put your running shoes on and go for a run. If you want to run only if you can win, and get recognition for that, and thay desire is always going to be primary, I’d give the trainers away as you’re likely never going to get whay you want. Not consistently.

Wow, thanks for that

To be fair to the poster, the average time is about 4 and a half hours, with beginners about 5 hours, so I’d not be sensitive about it, the achievement remains, no matter how long it took.

For the op who wants to get their mojo back and is worried about time this is really not helpful.

I can recommend the Garmin watch with Connect app on your phone. I find it gives me much more incentive and 'personal coaching' than fitbits etc. I have suffered with the same self-pressure over the years, but with my watch, I enjoy the low pressure goals I can set (they aren't based on time, they are mainly based on a set distance, so the pressure to shave a nano-second off my time isn't there).

there is a whole range of challenges such as a 3 mile walk or run, 100km over a two week period, 5 K in one run over a weekend. All very achievable, and they are released every month for the following month. If you want to pay £6 a month, you get a load more extra challenge options. I only play against myself, I don't put myself out there onto any leaderboards, that doesn't interest me.

the best thing for me is getting badges, which give a bit of incentive and reward to do a challenge but not the stress of having to 'beat' things all the time. Maybe that would satisfy your need for recognition, for yourself.

OP, I am a slow runner with a running coach DH. He is part of a club, runs marathons blah blah. I do not.

I also recently lost my mojo. (I started running in 2020 from never having run before in my life.)

I would recommend stepping back from the club / comparing yourself to others.

I have started right back at the beginning of C25k which is ridiculous in some ways because my fitness is way better than that (although for reference I run 5k in about 40 minutes). I am not on strava, I do not compare myself to other runners. I listen to music / podcasts, look at the sky and just focus on the joy of being outside. I am also ND and find that it regulates me. This is not a competition: this is me and my body outside and doing something that makes me feel better for a day.

I do not talk to DH about my running.

ETA: I also do not do parkrun, or any races or anything. It's not about how I compare to others.

Leave the club! Run for yourself. Running clubs can be fun but there is always an underlying competitive one-up vibe going on. Some people love it. I do not!
Marathon training is such a chore and I say that after running three marathons. I now focus on 5ks and 10ks and it is much more enjoyable (and manageable on my time and on my body). After losing my running mojo last year I was determined to get it back and so did runuary this January…where you run 5k a day. You basically CANT run super speedy everyday because you will get injured. It really teaches you to slow down, enjoy your runs more. I did most of them in zone 2 and didn’t care about the times. I just celebrated getting another run in. The days when it was freezing or miserable outside or I couldn’t motivate myself, I ran on the treadmill watching Bridgerton which made it much more enjoyable! At the end of the month, my fitness had improved massively and I started introducing more speed work and longer runs into my training again (and not running every day). Not because I felt I should, but because I wanted to. Incidentally I’ve take a minute off my km pace since I started in Jan…not because that was my goal, but just as a side effect of enjoying running again.
good luck OP…I hope you get your running mojo back! But don’t worry…we all lose it sometimes.

I’m a runner who never had any mojo and am in awe of anyone that wants to go for a run for fun rather than because it is a relatively cheap and easy way of getting some exercise, plus, and I hate to say it, it does give me a mental boost.

I am naturally very competitive and in a previous sport that I absolutely loved, I was reasonably successful and would see a second place as a failure - who wants to be the fastest loser? With running, I am slow and know I will never win any races but somehow I don’t mind. I focus on doing my best on the day. If that means just going for a 10 minute walk/jog then that is better than sitting on the sofa smashing biscuits down my gob and feeling sorry for myself.

Your running club sounds a bit cliquey and they should celebrate everyone’s achievements, not just those with the fastest times. I wouldn’t run a marathon if you held a gun to my head so you are a total legend in my eyes.

It sounds like the club isn’t for you?
a lot of the more traditional clubs wouldn’t be waving your flag for completing a marathon and there were probably lots of people in the club who didnt get their achievements mentioned at all and that’s fine for them.
If it does matter to you a smaller running “group” rather than a proper UKA club might be a better fit?

Unless we are one of the very few Olympic level runners nobody is bothered about our times. You can care about your own time or stop caring about your own time (stop even measuring it) but give up the notion that anyone else is bothered - they really aren't. They also aren't bothered about the distance you run. They aren't bothered if you pop out for twenty minutes or pound the pavements all morning with a 2 hour training run. They aren't thinking about you. This is freeing - to butcher a phrase stop doing runs you don't enjoy to try to impress people who don't care.

You have achieved a marathon distance but it has left you with some anxiety about running. Ban thoughts of a marathon for now. You can revisit it one day if you want to but for now you need to rediscover what you loved about running - or even exercise.

Have a think about what does feel OK (what doesn't make you want to dive under the duvet?) A power walk with music at a local beauty spot? If that sounds OK do that - but put your sports clothes on so that if you feel like taking a few strides you can. Take it from there.

I know that my attitude is wrong and that I should stop caring about other people’s runs. I started running because my husband encouraged me to sign up for Parkrun, so I started doing C25K and was surprised to find that I loved it. Unfortunately I got a stress fracture in week 5 and had to stop for 6 months. I think it was the marathon training that killed it for me. And I just want to get the enjoyment back and wanted advice on how to get that back.

Re my marathon time. A few weeks before I picked up an injury, wasn’t able to train and wasn’t sure if I’d be able to run it at all. Then the gels I was using gave me an upset stomach so from 13 miles I had no nutritional intake at all. I couldn’t eat anything. Then I got huge blisters-on-blisters on my feet which were crippling. So yeah, I think I did well not to drop out. I did it only for me but it still smarted at the club so. Onwards and upwards through.

If anyone hasn’t seen my other recent post, I’ve just asked my husband to leave, so I’ve got a lot going on and would ask people to be gentle not sneery.

@FusionChefGeoff I love the music interval training idea!

Just set a timer in your phone for 20/30 mins and run. Do it a few times a week. Don’t worry about speed or distance.

we all naturally get slower as we age and honestly for baseline fitness and mental health benefits it doesn’t matter much how far or fast you are running (unless you enjoy that or it motivates you!) as long as you are getting HR up regularly it is good cardio.

my 5k personal best is 38 mins, I have short legs. Not everyone is an athlete but doesn’t mean there are not mental and physical benefits to just running at your own pace.

As for timing I don’t, I have a playlist and run until the end. Sometimes I’m a bit further ahead usually when it cold. In the heat I’m slower.

It doesn’t matter that much. The most important thing is to keep going imo

I think nearly everyone goes through phases of this - I usually take a couple of weeks off and then start back but with no pressure - I walk if I want to, stop and take photos and just enjoy being outside. It’s much easier in better weather too.

I've been running for a decade and fall in and out of love with it. Can't live without running but sometimes struggle with motivation.

If you're really not feeling it, take a break but replace it with something else. I've done that in the past. Replaced it with a spin class for a couple of months. I got to a place where I really missed it so started back.

It sounds like you really need to look after yourself at the moment. Try and use running as a means to do that rather than something to beat yourself up about. I agree with everyone else about ditching Strava/garnins etc and just doing a short run. Try and lose all the noise around running and see if you can bring back the endorphins.

Oh and ignore @TheKittenswithMittens Looking at their posting history, their hobby appears to be making random unpleasant comments on Mumsnet threads. I think that's about as sad as it's possible to be really. You could have taken 17 hours to finish your marathon and you still wouldn't be as sad as that!!

I have been running on and off for 8 years now. I have often had to start again from scratch and I’m not fast.
I have had many runs that feel horrible and such a bloody effort. I’m slower now than I used to be.
But at some point this weekend I’m going to shove my feet in my trainers and go and enjoy the fresh air and the birds singing.
Please do the same.

Forget about everything that went before. Get out by yourself and do it just for you.

I mean, MN posters can often be acerbic, but I seem to have noticed some particularly bitchy and unhelpful comments over the last 24 hours 🙄

Do you actually want to run? Or just feel like you should want to?

👏👏👏