The Weekly Run Down and Getting My Mojo Back.

Hello again. Since May is Mental Health Awareness Month, I’m going to be transparent… the past few weeks have been more than a little rough on my mental state, and I lost a bit of my mojo, but hopefully I'm regaining it.

Courtesy of Island City Assisted Living. My lovely grandparents.

That’s not to say my running mojo has completely diminished. I still found time to get out to the trail, but over the past few weeks my overall mojo took a massive nosedive. I realize it’s been a tough year for many of us, and for me the recent loss of my beloved grandmother a few weeks ago, coupled with an incident where a family member began yelling at in my own home with unknown provocation, (more than once and in front of my husband) left me feeling a bit lost and pretty confused. So grieving a loss combined with a not-so-friendly incident left my mojo in a less than stellar state.

Of course, I’m not here to pass judgement on anyone or label anyone, just know that said incident left me questioning my self-worth. If you feel you're being treated poorly by someone, you’re not alone. Please try not to blame yourself or push your feelings aside. That’s what I did! I was afraid to come across as anything less than "nice" in order to be accepted by this individual and in the end, I was still met with hostility. Yes, there is more to the story... I digress.

Was I shocked and upset, yes! Frankly though, what do I have to gain from remaining upset? Well, I just hope to accept what happened, embrace my feelings, and move forward. So, just like in running, this incident has taught me how to keep the forward momentum going in lieu of obstacles. Also, I'm fortunate enough to have some great family members, friends, and an amazingly empathetic and loving husband to lean on. And… of course all the comforts of the running trail!

Like my Grandma Marge used to say, "exercise is the spice of life." Her positive, go getter attitude is one of the things I'll miss most about her. Even in the face of adversity, or in her case a stroke that nearly paralyzed her entire left side, she still found a way to keep going. She joined an adaptive sports group and also went to exercise classes with my grandpa. She taught me that there's always a way!

The sweaty aftermath of a great treadmill workout!

Never the less, the past few weeks haven’t been a complete loss. There have been some positive moments through the murkiness. Queue the mojo!

For starters I’m entering week 4 of my 10 half marathons in 10 weeks challenge. See Rhino Races if you’d like to participate. All while concurrently participating in a run streak for Mental Health Awareness Month with Still I Run. The idea is to run or walk at least 1 mile a day in May. I’m participating in these challenges as a way to engage my inner drive —ahem — mojo, while training for my next 50k race in August. Stay tuned, the hubby will be joining me!

Here’s what I’ve done so far this month. I’ll kick off this week's run down with May 1st:

May 1st. 13.1 mile run for the half marathon challenge.

May 2nd. Dog walk for the run streak.

May 3rd. Dog walk for the run streak.

May 4th. 4-mile run and upper body strength training.

May 5th. 6.1-mile hill run.

May 6th. Dog walk for the challenge.

May 7th. 13.6- mile run for the half marathon challenge.

Total miles run = 36.8. Not including bonus dog walks.

Boy do I have a lot of runs planned for this week. Yesterday I completed an hour on the treadmill. I find that I don’t run too hard on the treadmill like I do when I’m outdoors, because of all the buttons... and slowing down is a good thing! Tomorrow I plan to run hills. Wednesday the hubby and I will get our morning run on. Thursday, we are going to check out a new (to us) running group. Punctuated by Saturday — we have an in-person half marathon. Yep, we have a lot to look forward to.

What do you do when your mojo needs reinforcements? Do you find solace in meeting new people or by joining run groups?

Thanks for reading and have a great week.