JJSB RunDate 17029:Somewhere Between Slump and Crisis - Looking for Inspiration

I thought I was in a running slump.  That's what I thought.  But this isn't a running slump.

It's not a running crisis either.

It's somewhere in between.

But it is serious.

I'm really having trouble getting out the door.  Every time I go out, I'm having to force myself with everything I have.

And the more times there are that I don't get out the door, the harder it is when I do get out the door.

I looked back at all of my December/January mile totals since I started running and this year is dismal in comparison to previous years.

Yeah, I've had some slow months here and there but the slow down was always fairly brief and then I was able to refocus and get back into the swing of things.

But the numbers don't lie:

Dec 2012/Jan 2013 - 138 miles

Dec 2013/Jan 2014 - 66 miles

Dec 2014/Jan 2015 - 59 miles

Dec 2015/Jan 2016 - 100 miles

Dec 2016/Jan 2017 -  33 miles

Or, if you prefer, here it is in graph form so you can easily see just how far I have backslidden:

That's right.  This year Dec/Jan I ran a total of only 33 miles.  That's 33 miles in 9 weeks or roughly 3.7 miles per week.

So if I consider a slump to be somewhere between 40 - 50 miles and crisis as 0 - 10, you can understand why I say that I'm somewhere between slump and crisis  (Sorry for the data, but it's what I do)

I'm trying desperately to regroup, set some goals for myself and find inspiration any place I can get it.

One thing I am doing is reflecting on myself in an attempt to figure out exactly why I'm having so much trouble keeping up a running schedule.

There have been a number of factors that I have mentioned in previous posts but one which I have always minimized is the support and encouragement of friends.  Don't get me wrong, I've always appreciated the support of others.  I just didn't realize exactly how much it means to me until the group of people supporting me kind of tapered off.  Now I realize how wrong I am about that.

The one tangible thing I am going to do for now is set a realistic February goal to try to jump start things and get back on track.  My goal is to set a personal record for total miles in February this year.

Since I began running, my highest total for February has been 51.85 miles so my goal is to top that for February 2017.

I will also be appealing more to others for encouragement as it obviously does have an effect on my running activities.