After an angsty 25+ years of my life, I’ve come around to love running. This is obvious to anyone who knows me. I discovered it as a great hobby when you live in a rural area and can’t get together on a regular basis to play sports. Combined with the ability to track running with technology, it has become a hobby that at this point I would even if I couldn’t track, or had access to regular sports events. I just love being out on the road, listening to nature (or music) and feeling the air and precipitation.

But that’s not what this is about. This post is about when I’m less than joyful on a run. A big part of running is making it a habit so that it isn’t a struggle. The hope is that you can condition yourself to be able to use relatively little effort to get out there. That’s the goal. Of course, reality being what it is, running it not always effortless.

The last few weeks I’ve changed my diet and had an explosion of personal and professional commitments. The changes in routine have led to runs that have been crammed in my schedule sideways and at times that are not my favorite. Which ultimately has led to runs that would normally be close to effortless, requiring more effort. But there’s an opportunity here too. The opportunity is to toughten my mental state to run while under effort. Even when things don’t go right, we have to practice a combination of mindfulness and grounding in your ability to push through, while still listening to your body and not pushing too hard.