Has anyone stopped runnin

Hi everyone,

I hope you're well.

I just wondered if anyone had any thoughts on this, or any experience of it - falling out of love with running.

I started running with my wife in 2009, and then got addicted... Started out with the Lakeland 50 in 2010, before being introduced to actual fell running by Ian Barnes of Ambleside. Which lead to me doing Langdale for five of the next six years, driving up from Leicester for a good few other races and reccies (including a two day trip that involved a reccie of Wasdale on the Saturday and Ennerdale for pudding on the Sunday) - I'd think nothing of driving up there to do these things.

But recently, things have started to wane. The first signs were when I started to actually consider the hours it took to drive to and from the Lake District! Then the races dwindled.

I've had a couple of wavering moments in the past that have always come and gone, and going out for training runs has never been that easy, but I've never questioned doing it at all like I am now. Entering a fresh event has normally given me the motivation to get on with it, but I've entered two events in 2018 and they aren't doing the trick either.

Sorry for the agony aunt post. I'm just really interested to know if others had gone through this. After nine years of running, it sort of becomes who you are to an extent.

I haven't posted for a good while, but I couldn't think of a better place to ask than the place that I associate with the days when, for me, running was at its best!

Thanks!

Hi Josh
Went through a similar thing recently. Loved doing ultra races and took the plunge to do the 2017 Lakeland 100. Trained my backside off and was the fittest I'd ever been going into the Highland fling which I would treat as a tune up race. Hated every minute of the race, even though I finished top 30 and was a massive struggle to finish. After that I just kept asking myself "what's the point" and feeling super guilty heading out for a run and leaving my wife and boy at home.

A few weeks after the Fling I pulled out of doing my goal race the Lakeland 100 and haven't run consistently since. I have the odd "good" run and still have fun with it but I've definitely realised it's not who I am any more. Maybe in the future I'll get back to my former running self but for now I'm not feeling the love.

All the best, Chris

I haven’t run much since my BG in 2011. More comebacks than Sinatra. Years come and go with I’ll do the Lakeland Classics or something interesting. Funnily enough I’m just about to go out in the rain with Stef but it’s not training; just a run out

3 years ago I got injured and was out for while but turned to cycling in order to try and keep some semblance of fitness. I think before the injury I was the fittest I had ever been but after blowing up at Borrowdale Fell Race I really started to question why I was doing it. I plainly wasn't enjoying it and even the satisfaction of finishing had started to wane. These days I am definitely more of a cyclist and the running takes a back seat. Mrs S also lost her running mojo in 2017. Too many marathons, too much training etc.
so this year we have both vowed to run when we feel like it, only enter races we think we will enjoy and above all, have a good time whilst running. It is supposed to be relaxing and a pleasure and after all, that's why we both do it. So in that vain I'm continuing with my cycling, doing a few sportives and only running once a week with the wife and dog. Have a few fell races planned (Long mynd valleys next week for one) but I'm not going to beat myself up if I don't finish in the top 50%. Get out there, take in that glorious scenery and above all, enjoy it. That is the moto for 2018.
Good luck Josh with whatever you decide to do.

After 12 years of running/racing. I haven't been out since last Easter.

Mental illness and divorce being my two main reasons.

I want to get back but lack the motivation.

I experienced similar in Muay Thai (Thai kickboxing) when I was competing at a reasonably good level(i.e. a low level professional in the UK). This was mainly due to the sheer grind of doing 40-50 hours a week at work, and training up to three hours a night on top of that, combined with a very severe diet.

I guess it's a danger whenever a hobby/pastime becomes something more than that (an obsession?).

Eventually lead to me knocking it on the head. Although more to do with the lifestyle I had to lead to become reach a high level, rather than falling out of love with the sport itself. I even seriously considered moving to Thailand permanaently to take it up as a full time professional, so I can't have hated it that much!

In terms of running, I'm fairly new to the sport, this year will be my third full season racing, so I'm still enjoying new races, improving my times at regular races, and pushing myself further, so it's not too much of a worry at this stage. I do occasionally feel a bit of frustration at having to drag myself out to another cold, dark track or road session, or endless big hill treadmill sessions. But at the moment I'm reaping the benefits of the hard work so it's nothing major. I'm very competitive so perhaps that helps me keep at it.

On reflection, I certainly don't regret for a minute that I got away from local football, then kickboxing, and eventually found my way to Fell running. My biggest regret is that I didn't do it sooner, as I wanted to do it for years.

Having said all that, it amazes me how my club mates can get themselves up for regular training, all for year on year of dull road races. I guess everyone has their own motivation, so who am i to question it...

My tuppence worth is that I think it helps being part of a social local fell running club with a lot of different people you can have a laugh with.

You meet up with your clubmates weekly, or whatever, and when the mojo to run & race is low, the running can be second to just enjoying the company and camaraderie.
Volunteering to help out at races also has much the same effect.
The mojo to run & race ebbs and flows, and as long as you're still in that running world, when it comes back round you're ready to get back into it.

Absolutely spot-on Bill. I don’t particularly miss racing (I’m rubbish anyway) but miss the social side of (fell)running way more

Bill's hit the nail Lff. Just a few years ago I was training for the longer stuff & would easily get out of bed at silly o'clock to drive either locally or to the lakes for a long day on the hill but I've hardly raced at all in the last 2 years due to injury/real life intervening and did lose my mojo for a good part of last year. Now I still marshal at races and go out with a group of young people once a week with Fell pony George (forgotten his forum name- the Master ?) to train& encourage them.
My mojo is slowly returning to the extent where I'm still dreaming big dreams eg the summer edition of the spine challenger, maybe next year.....

One other consideration is not to be obsessed with doing 'the big stuff' ..... Lakeland Classics etc. When running at my best (mid 1980's & U/A) my training consisted of fast(ish) lunchtime runs from work ( 4 miles/350 feet in 28 minutes ) Mon-Fri then up at 05.00 on Sat for 2 to 3 hours on Clougha Pike / Ward's Stone and home to have breakfast / all day with the family. I guess it helps being located 'oop N' (Lancaster).
Nowadays, getting out on the local fells for evening runs with my Bowland FR clubmates and the Lancaster Park Run seem to keep me motivated; but I'm now in my late 60's and you might accuse me of having 'shrinking horizons', although I don't think my knees would now survive big mileages, hence all day outings are on one of the bikes - mostly the fixie at the moment.
Another consideration is to look at the habits of the old harriers' clubs .... they would just run anything going on in the locality, be it road, XC or fell without travelling vast distances.

Regards being resident in Leicestershire, just look at some of the posts from Anthony Kay (anthonykay) who seems to thoroughly enjoy himself on and around Beacon Hill; back in the 1980's he was knocking out some impressive personal challenge runs ..... I recall a FRM article on a round of the Munroes of the Glen Lyon watershed.

With regards to divorce, I had a mate whose wife 'did a runner' one autumn. All through the winter he channeled his angst and put in some phenomenal fell race performances the following year .... it's not what happens to you, it's how you handle what happens to you.

Ian Roberts, Bowland Fell Runners.

Hi again everyone,

Thanks a lot for your replies. It's really good to hear it's not so uncommon.

Sorry to hear of your situation Stagger. That's obviously a lot more serious than just a general losing your motivation and I'm sorry to hear you're going through it. I hope you'll be out the worst of it soon.

Thanks Chris (doughty84), PeteS and Travs too. That's really similar to some of my feelings now. I entered two races for 2018 only a couple of months ago and felt really up for them. I've even had some decent training runs lately. But something's switched. And like with you (Chris), my children are 8 and 4 and I look at them and think, what if I had a whole Sunday with them and didn't have to disappear for an hour and a half? Or what if I didn't have disappear even when we're on holiday! Maybe it's just a runner's selfishness that I haven't thought these things before...

And once the joy has gone a bit, there's probably no point just flogging yourself, as joy's pretty much the point.

And thanks to Bill, Manhar, Derby Tup and Wheezing Donkey. All definitely good points and really helpful.

One thing I sometimes think about and find really interesting, is Gavin Bland. He was obviously amazing in his younger years and then seemed to stop (as far as I know). But then one year, maybe 2012ish, I remember seeing him at Loughrigg Silver Howe, and seeing him, Chris Steele and Rob Jebb trott off up Loughrigg all chatting to each other, while others drifted behind. That year, he went on to win the British Champs! And then he seemed to go again! So it's possible to leave it for a bit and rediscover your love for it.

One final thought, I remember saying to my wife that standing on the start line of the Langdale Horseshoe reminded me a bit of the story of The Ugly Duckling - for me standing there was the equivalent of the moment when the duckling finds out who he really is.

Maybe the feeling's gone a bit, but those years of running, especially fell running, served a massive purpose that'll always be appreciated.

Thanks again.

I think the trick is variety. I've 'ran' since about 1986/7. Then joined a club so I could train for triathlon. did XC...loved it, did triathlon...loved it. 5 years in stopped loving the triathlon as I wasn't training hard enough for 'longs'. Did more local North York Moors fell races...loved that. Got injured....fell out with it all but plugged on and moved to Cumbria. Took six months out due to additional injury. Ran bits, walked bits...Munroing and 1000' top in Lakes bagging. Found the injury cleared and slowly built up. Sometimes enjoying it, sometimes not. Started on Lakes Longs/Super Longs plus Yorks Three Peaks....loved it. Did Marathon....loved it. Now I'm on 'Ultra's'/LDWA stuff (bits...). Now I had a down after having a bad L100 so decided to back off in 2018 and do more events with Mrs tfg, challenges she might fancy. Mojo went October/November. Then decided on Run Everyday December...now I'm on Do Something Everyday January/December and loving it again!! It's ups and downs, looking for new challenges...new horizons. It's sometimes not easy, but I'd guess 90% of the guys/girls who are saying they're 'off it' here will be back on it at some stage. Good luck, I'm sure your mojo will be back...or re-directed!

I changed jobs just under 5 years ago, I was really lucky that in my last job I could run to and from work, so it was a steady 3 miles in the morning and anything from 7 to 15 miles in the evening, the beauty of this was I never trained during the week, only at the weekends ;) my current job doesn’t allow me to do that and to be honest my running has taken a severe knock, unfortunately I’m a pig that likes his food, the only way I stay thin is to run so the thought of splashing out on a bigger pair of Levi’s has reinvigorated my mojo, at present I’m just plugging away, enjoying what I’m doing, be it road or fell, I walk the hills if I think a heart attack is imminent and just plug away, the beauty of my new routine is that I actually stop now and look at things, in the past I was just running, head down banging the miles in :o

Quote:

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Originally Posted by that_fjell_guy

I'm sure your mojo will be back...or re-directed!

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I think TFG is spot on LFF. As runners we wax and wane, and there's nothing wrong in that at all. You've done some excellent running over a number of years and now your key interests have shifted. All quite natural, and probably quite psychologically healthy too. Trouble is, also as runners, part of our psyche is constantly nagging us to always be out there doing more; sending us on a guilt trip if we stray. It's that obsessive-compulsive aspect that can be both positive and helps us with our running (e.g getting out there with the head torch on those dark rain filled wintery nights when most folk are truly sedentary in front of the telly), but which doesn't really have a wider and more balanced sense of perspective - one that real life demands. As TFG said, if you return to enjoy running for a spell, that's great. If you do something else instead - that's great too.

I'm not sure that I can add much to the wisdom that others have already provided, but it is clear that people do stop running for all sorts of reasons -- and then some of them start again at a later date. So don't beat yourself up about it if you don't feel like running now, although obviously you should keep doing some sort of (moderate) exercise.

For myself, I never completely stopped running; but having run a race 4 weeks before my son was born, my next race was 14 years later, after I kept seeing posters advertising the Woodhouse Eaves May Day Challenge on my Beacon Hill runs (I believe you have "form" in that event, L.F.F.); and I was down to one or two runs per week within that period. So there's certainly nothing wrong with giving your family priority. And I have no regrets about missing out on all those M40 and M45 prizes :p because I wasn't racing in those age groups. I am now enjoying life as a M55, though still only racing occasionally (only 5 races in 2017).

Something else that has kept my mojo up is that I keep getting injuries! Every time I have a few weeks off with an injury, I come back full of enthusiasm to get fit again!

Finally, I should point out that Wheezing Donkey's accusation that I did "impressive personal challenges" is greatly exaggerated. Those runs were impressive mainly for the obscurity of the hills I was on, and certainly not for their length.

FWIW, I fall in and out of love with running most years. In the spring and early summer I'm mad keen and can't get enough of it. Then I get a bit bored towards the end of the summer/autumn and tick over through the winter.

I think if you push yourself past a point where you're doing it for enjoyment, it reinforces the negative side of training (that you're doing it out of routine and not for pleasure). If you accept that you'll have ups and downs in how keen you are, it somehow doesn't put so much pressure on you. And you're less likely to drive yourself to those situations where you'll think "why am I doing this?"

I've never been a good runner. Probably best on a road, where I managed to get sub 40m for 10K, but then I prefer the hills.
But the last couple of years seem to have been one niggle after another, where I have a few weeks off, get going again, manage to get up to 30 miles and break down again.

So having had a foot problem since August, then a hamstring in December, I decided January would be back to basics, going back to 2003 when I first started as a 37 year old ex hockey player who had been a couch potato for 7-8 years.

So I've tried to do something everyday in January, even if it's just running to the post office with parcels in a backpack - 1 mile there and 1 mile back on the canal.
Longest run has been about 6.5 miles at 9 minute mile pace.

I've stuck to the roads - quieter country ones or park roads - just because the foot problem I had seem to be worse after running on the rubble tracks around Darwen Moor.

So far it seems to have worked.

No niggles, no foot problem during runs, and I've only missed 2 days, one through weight of work and another on Saturday due to having a 24 hour bug that wiped me out.

So feeling more positive.

Plan is that in February I try to get a little longer and complete a 10 miler by end Feb. Possibly doing the Maryport 10 miler as my daughter now lives up there.

All being well then it's back on the hills in March, the Stan Bradshaw, and then on to the Anni Waltz.

I think some of the comments are spot on. Being in a club socially helps. Whilst I am in a club, I don't get to run with anyone at the club as I've spent most of the last 15 years coaching.
I used to run with my wife who has run to a reasonable level, but we also foster and it's rare we get to run with each other. It's perhaps happened twice in the last 8 months.
I used to love club reccies in the past. Whether local doing sections of 3 peaks, Pendle or Mary Towneley, or heading up to the lakes to do a section of BG.
But we haven't done that for perhaps 5 years now and it would be good to get something going again.

This crap grey weather doesn't help either :)

Dont sweat it LFF. You've mentioned 2 key issues...young kids and a long way from fell country. Its no surprise that your initial enthusiastic phase has matured into the next stage....nagging guilt!
You will find a new strategy, whether it be doing a few selected events, doing more local off road events, cycling or whatever. Then, in a few years, when kids are older or other life events have occurred, you may find you want to pick up regular fell races again. If you truly love it, it will never leave you.
Personally, I had a massive first 5 years and then have piddled around ever since! Still totally love it though.

About time you lot down there sorted out another epic challenge Wheeze (with trackers!!)

Definitely! The Steam Bunny Bluff is only resting pending the availability of next-gen trackers that communicate position by satellite as well as receive it. They have been around but cost has been adverse. But technology moves on and will be looking into it again soon.