Like most runners, when COVID-19 hit and I found myself working from home my initial thought was, “I’m going to do so much running.” I would have so much more time in my day not having to drive to work. And the gym was closed so I finally had a perfect excuse to skip all of the strength days. I even signed up for a half marathon later in the spring to keep myself motivated and another 10 miler a few weeks before that. I was going to get faster and stronger. This was going to be my year.

Flash forward to mid-May. Races have been cancelled indefinitely. It’s starting to get hotter and more humid, and honestly despite the fact that I’m running a lot I don’t feel like I’m actually in any better shape than I was a few weeks before. As a last-ditch effort, I join my family in a “100 miles in June” running/walking challenge.

While I did hit the 100 miles, I was completely over running come July 1. I was sick of seeing other people posting about their quarantine love affair with running while every run for me seemed to get harder. So I did something I hadn’t done in a really long time – I stopped making myself run. I told myself that for the next few weeks, I could do what made me feel good and made me happy.

And honestly, it was great.

I slept in on the weekend instead of rushing out the door to beat the heat. I stayed up late on Saturday and drank too much wine because I didn’t have to do a long run the next day. I went and stayed with my girlfriends for a few days. I spent a few weekends hiking in the Adirondacks and didn’t think about how I would be too sore the next few days to get in a run.

I also tried out some other ways of being active. I went for more walks. I rediscovered the Nike Training Club app and tried classes I hadn’t done before like kickboxing. I even ended up starting a 6 week HIIT program. This was especially big for me because up until this point I had decided that I just don’t do burpees or mountain climbers. For any reason. Ever.

Before I knew it, I was actually able to do some burpees and mountain climbers. I also had grown to miss running. Because, let’s be real, burpees and mountain climbers are the worst even if you can kind of do them.

However, while I had gotten stronger in other ways, I knew running hadn’t magically gotten easier in the 2 months I stopped doing it.

I decided to start from scratch and leave behind what pace I thought I should be running at. Because the universe works in weird ways, it just so happened that the Ali the Run episode that week was with running coach Kaitlin Goodman. This episode gave me the push I needed to lace back up and get out there.

I changed my watch settings to only show how long I had been running, my heart rate, and my cadence. I told myself I would run for 20-30 mins at a pace that felt truly easy. I would start with running for 3 mins and walking for 1 and build up from there. And I just started. Even when I felt tired or it got hard, I knew I only had to keep it up for 3 mins before I got a little break. And honestly that just seems so much more manageable to me and it makes it a lot easier to get out the door.

And once I get out the door, I remember why I love the run so much. My running hiatus was great, but there are few things I love as much as running in the morning, before the world wakes up. The air is finally getting crisp, the leaves are thinking about changing, and things are finally feeling a bit more normal.

I can’t think of a better time to fall back in love with running.

Cheers!

-Molly