Friday Ramble 10/07/22

This week: Finding the spark after a big accomplishment. Plus a strength training revelation, and a killer recipe for lentil soup.

Following any kind of big event – be it a race, an adventure, or a personal challenge – reconnecting with motivation can be a complex process. Not only do you need to unravel your emotions from the event itself, you have to figure out where you’re going from here. It’s a lot to digest. 

For months, you trained and sacrificed to meet your goals. Your daily routines and attention to detail became integral to not only your running, but how you went about your life. At some point, the pursuit became a central part of your identity. 

After all that effort, you went out there and gave it your all, earning kudos from friends and family, along with an immense feeling of internal satisfaction. You wear your post-race swag with pride, happy to relive the most trivial elements of your day with anyone who asks. (And even those who don’t.) 

A few weeks pass, and then you realize you have nothing left but memories and a big empty void. You have entered the confusing world of post-race malaise. This can take many forms, from a feeling of lethargy and emptiness to full-blown depression. 

This kind of existential ennui can affect runners at all times, but we’re especially prone to these feelings after big events. Without the incentive of training for a big race pulling you out of bed in the morning, you might be asking yourself: What’s the point of running at all? 

It’s an excellent question, so let’s start there.