How to stay motivated and prevent runner burnout

Falling off the fitness bandwagon  I have had this conversation with a few different lady friends recently, and I know it’s something so many of us deal with, maybe on the daily. For me, personally, I am in this running/healthy …

How I came back from an Injury Stronger and the recipe I’m loving lately

Being forced to the sideline with an injury is never easy, but when you have your first race “back” after significantly lower mileage and intensity for 4 months, and the race is only 51 seconds off your PR, you share what you did for those 4 months. Because, in the future, friends may find themselves injured, too, and may need some guidance for “what to do”.  Catch my drift? So, save this post for when you’re injured and need a kick in the pants, because let’s be real, finding the motivation to cross-train/stay in shape while on the injured reserve list is just plain HARD.

Biggest piece of advice:  find a group/workout buddy. This was the inarguably the best thing I could have done. You don’t have to be alone in your injury! You have friends! It just may take some searching 😉 I obviously couldn’t train with my normal running buds during my injury, but I COULD find a local swimming and biking group! Most cities have US masters swim teams and biking clubs with weekly meet-ups. Find a contact on their website (or heck, just show up like I did) and tell them you’re a newbie. They’ll love your tenacity and dedi     
cation to learning something new and being the best you can be at “their” sport.

My Cross-training schedule during my injury. This doesn’t include strength training/PT appointments (**Also, I was able to run, but not much. I basically ran until it hurt, all the while trying to figure out what ACTUALLY was wrong. This took about 4 months. As you will see, I built up quite the cardio base. It did not hurt at all to bike and swim, so I did those a TON):

MON AM: 1.5 hours of getting my arss handed to me at the pool with the u.s. masters swim group

MON PM: hot yoga or a short/easy run

 

TUES AM: spin class at the gym

TUES PM: restorative yoga

 

WED AM: 1.5 hour swim…so freaking hard but love every minute of it

WED PM: 2 hour bike ride with a local club (usually by Wednesday night I can hardly walk after that much swimming and biking in one day)

 

THUR AM: rest/sleep in (thank the Lord)

THUR PM: light/easy run

 

FRIDAY AM: another morning, another u.s. masters group swim. 1.5 hours.

FRIDAY PM: kick my feet up and relax! It’s Friday!!

 

SAT: long-ish run (nice and easy for about 45 min to an hour)

 

SUN: either rest day or afternoon bike ride

Also, wanted to share something I’m loving lately.

Let’s talk about salads-in-a-jar. Obsessed. I make them all on Sunday and have a bunch in the fridge to grab during busy week days!

Mason-Jar Salad: How To

Makes 2 salads

Ingredients:

1 carrot, thinly sliced or shredded

1 cup quinoa, cooked

1 sweet potato, roasted

2 handfuls of the lettuce of your choice

Maple-Tahini Dressing

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp coarse salt

¾ cup tahini paste

2 tablespoon lemon juice

¼ cup warm water

2 tsp chopped parsley

Instructions:

1. For the dressing, combine all ingredients into food processor and blend until desired consistency. Depending on your preference, you may add more water or lemon juice to thin it out.

2. Cook the quinoa according to the package instructions. Let cool completely.
3. Cube the sweet potatoes, toss in olive oil and salt + pepper. Roast the sweet potatoes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 25-30 minutes. Let cool completely.

4. Once ingredients are prepped and cooled, layer the salad in the jar.

Carrots

Maple-Tahini Dressing

Quinoa and Sweet potato

Lettuce

5. Store in refrigerator until ready to eat!

Recipe Inspired by Topwithcinnamon.com