Making a confession

I have to come clean. I feel like I've been hiding something for a while now. I have no motivation for fitness at the moment. For some odd reason, I seem to be in the doldrums when it comes to running or just working out in general. I had great plans about how I was going to do things this year. I was going to start off with the Goofy (done), PR the Shamrock (didn't happen, but only because I PRed the Mercedes Half a month earlier), run 6 half marathons in 6 months (done), and keep up my running over the summer so I'd be in great shape for the several races I plan to run in the fall (FAIL). I don't quite know why I've become a slug, but I have.

It really started about two months ago. The time I usually took to run, or cross train, or work out in general started to evaporate. And so did my level of fitness. It was a gradual thing. I started going slower, and slower, and shorter distances and shorter distances. I started lifting fewer weights, doing fewer sit ups, fewer push ups, even walking up fewer stairs at work. I'd love to blame it on the heat, but frankly it started long before the mercury started hovering in the high nineties like it is now. I'd love to be able to say that I over trained or injured myself. But I didn't. I'm fine.

I'm not exactly in awful shape - I ran a half marathon three weeks ago (the Charity Chase Half in Hickory, NC, which, by the way, I recommend heartily). I ran it slooowwly, but that was in no small part because Mrs. Running Quack was tapering for a marathon the next weekend, and we wanted to run together. That said, I did a night run a few days ago and, frankly, it was an embarrassment. I'm also still sore from a relatively light dumbbell circuit 48 hours ago.

So now I'm writing this post as a confession. I'm basically calling myself out. I'm hoping it will serve to get me motivated. I'm also going to apply the same tactic I tell patients to use when they're trying to stop smoking. I tell them to tell everyone they know to light in to them if they see them smoking. So if you know me, badger me mercilessly about working out. Embarrass me. Shame me. I'll thank you for it later. Any other motivational tricks are appreciated, too. Mu.