When Running Becomes a Struggle

What do you do when you find yourself in a funk?  I have been running consistently for over a year now and have loved to sometimes hate every minute of it.  But now I'm finding myself kind of just slumping around the roads.  It's been kind of frustrating.  Some of it I know is the small amount of pain I still have in my IT bands.  Most of the time they don't hurt, but every once in a while (longer runs, faster runs) I feel the tightness.  I'm babying them.  I'm preparing for two more races coming up.  One being the Going the Distance half marathon on April 4th being put on by Startline Racing (use code RET to get 10% off their races--excluding their 3rd party races), and the other one is the Run3rd 5K on April 11th (use code RUNEATTWEET to get 10% off and to be entered into a giveaway for a Sean Astin autographed DVD of Lord of the Rings happening April 1st).  I have to say, after these two races, I think I need to just have a little fun with my running.  I think I've realized I'm putting too much pressure on myself.

I didn't think I'd find myself in this place.  I've always been pretty realistic about my goals, and I still don't feel like I'm doing anything wrong.  I've just realized I'm loosing some of the fun of just running and enjoying it.  My eating has been off and I haven't been strength training since Nov and I also know that's taking a toll.  I've mentioned on Instagram that I've changed gyms and have decided to start swimming again (maybe a sprint triathlon in the future?).  I was a very good swimmer as a teen/young adult, so I'd like to gain some of that back.  I'm also trying to work out a plan to find good days to get back into the gym to lift as well as using the things I have here at home to rebuild my strength (tires, battleropes, core work, HIIT training).  My neighbors are used to watching me do weird things like taking selfies and garmin pics after running, I may as well go back to pushing around my big tire so they have more to talk about!  Hubz and I are also looking into starting the 21 day fix.  Everyone I follow on Instagram who's used it has loved it.  It's worth a try to get myself back on track eating right, and it'd be nice to have my husband join me.

We have a lot on our plate right now at home and it's stressing me out.  I'm really hoping that in a couple of weeks things start to calm back down as we start getting answers to some looming decisions.  In the meantime, I will be doing my best to keep myself on track, enjoy each day, and remember what the most important things are in this life. My husband, my children, Jaylee and my health.

Also, if you live in Arizona and need something to do on March 28th Run Eat Tweet AZ has a Nuun sponsored meetup going down that morning!  There will be different run distances available for the runners who need more mileage or the runners who'd like to start with something simpler.  The longer runs start at 7:00am and the shorter runs start at 8:00am.  There will be tons of giveaways, guest speakers and then head out for BREAKFAST after!  We are after all, a social run group right!  Hope to see you there!