Yesterday was one of those days when I wanted to do anything but run. After the Uplift workout on Tuesday night my legs were pretty sore, I had evening plans that I didn’t want to rush to make, I have a lot on my mind, and work has been pretty crazy this week.
But, knowing that the rest of my work running group was waiting for me helped motivate me to tie on my shoes and get out the door. I knew that once we started running I’d be happier and in a better mood.
Unfortunately, around five minutes in I still wasn’t in a great mood. I was just bored with our routine in general. Since I had my Garmin I suddenly realized that we didn’t have to stick to our normal path. We could run ANYWHERE in Central Park. This thought suddenly provided me with the greatest sense of excitement and freedom. I could show the group new areas in Central Park they’ve never experienced.
After our normal mile route to the Central Park entrance we diverged from habit. For the next hour we did nothing like normal.
- The group wanted to challenge themselves so they stuck with me for the entire 7 miles instead of only doing 4-5 miles like normal.
- We were only on the main Central Park loop for maybe 2 miles total.
- We ran against traffic on the reservoir for a new perspective.
- We spent a mile on the Bridle Path.
- We talked about growing up as a NYC child having Central Park as your playground while running around the softball fields, The Lake and Turtle Pond.
This 70 minute run, while painful at times on tired legs, was like a breath of fresh air. Sometimes all you need to do is shake it up a bit and turn down a new path in order to bring the fun back to something that has quickly become habit.
WWWWWWEEEEEE booking our tickets for NYC and this is making me SO EXCITED!!! I have so much to see while we are there, including YOU
You really turned that run around! Sounds like it was awesome in the end 🙂
that’s awesome! I totally get stuck in the same-path running rut allll the time. I think I need to mix things up too:)
I’ve definitely felt like I’m in a running rut and it’s making my long runs hard lately. I think I need to find some sort of running buddy to make my long runs feel like less of a lonely slog since the hardest part for me is thinking about how many more miles I have to run!
(a massage to take care of my tight calves might also be nice…)
What a great run it ended up being! Whenever I get in a rut I know I need to switch it up, whether it’s music, type of workout or gear, it helps bust out of those plateaus! Happy Friday!
That’s why I love my Garmin! Pre-Garmin – I stuck to my normal mapped out routes so I knew I got the mileage done. Post-Garmin – I run like a free bird! It really is liberating and can give you back that sense of excitement when you want to adventure. Great job on getting out of that rut!
I love new running routes!! It makes things so much more interesting and provides some variety from your daily runs!