Summer Running and Turning Miles into Trees

Motivation is a funny thing.  Whenever I complete something that I've been training for, I find myself thinking, "Great, now I can just enjoy my runs again with no pressure" but before long those training runs start to feel a bit aimless and I start looking out for a new challenge.  I've been struggling a bit this year and I think it's partly because Rory, my better half and running buddy, has been focusing more on golf.  That's okay, because we should all prioritize the things we enjoy the most and I know that Rory has to be careful not to overdo things after his recent back problems.  However, I do miss the lockdown days when we would go for a run together pretty much every morning.  We still do parkrun together at weekends, but most of my weekday runs these days are on my own.  I don't mind solo running (in some ways I love it) but it can be sometimes harder to motivate yourself when you're on your own.  

I certainly feel more motivated when I'm working towards some kind of goal, even if it's just a Garmin badge, but I can't bring myself to keep collecting yet more medals from virtual running sites.  Just lately I've started to get into more environmentally sound goals.  Instead of just collecting more and more bling, I have been turning my miles into trees through Earth Runners.  Earlier this year I ran one of their 10K virtual events and received a seeded wildflower 'medal' in addition to them planting 8 trees on my behalf.  I planted the medal in a pot, watered it and was delighted to see it turn into beautiful summer flowers, which the bees love.  Given my poor track record in gardening, it's quite a big deal for me to actually nurture a pot of flowers and I feel a ridiculous sense of pride whenever I see them, although in the last few days I've noticed that they have become subject to an ant invasion, so this may be a short-lived pleasure.

I've been tree planting again this month with the Runners Need 40 Trees for 40K challenge.  It certainly made me more keen to go out and run, knowing that I would be adding a few more kilometers, progressing a little bit further towards the total.  I also decided that I would take nature photos along the run routes and this added a fun, creative element.  It didn't take me long to reach 40K and now that it's finished, I'm wondering what to do for the rest of July, but it's satisfying to think about all the trees.  

Running is hard work at the moment, as we're in the grips of a heatwave.  I have taken to getting up at 6 o clock to beat the heat, but I'm determined that one of these days I will wake up even earlier and go for a 'sunrise run.'  I look on in envy when I see all these amazing photographs from runners who have hit the trails before 5 a.m.  Maybe I will finally get to do my own sunrise run this week.  The only trouble with these early morning runs is that they make the day seem so long.  It feels like lunchtime when it's only 10.30 a.m.  

2022 so far doesn't seem like the most dynamic year for me in terms of my running, but I'm okay with that.  Really I am just plodding on, keeping the running going, but I'm always keeping my eyes open for any (not too expensive) challenges that might interest me.  I haven't got any 'real' races booked.  Right now, with everyone having to tighten their belts money-wise, it seems a bit frivolous.  I did our local road race, the Penistone 10K a few weeks ago (unfinished business for me since my DNF in 2018, but this time I managed to not only avoid collapsing in the heat but also conquer those horrible hills and finish in a not too shabby time) and Sheffield 10K in the autumn is still a possibility.  But I don't feel like I can book races with the same reckless abandon as I could before.  I'm still enjoying parkrun though and Rory and I have rediscovered our enthusiasm for parkrun tourism after staying local for quite a while.  We've run five new venues so far this year, which means we've been able to join the Pirate Club - 7 Cs (seas) and an R (arrrrrgh!) - and completed the Sheffield group of six.  

We had a really tough couple of weeks at the end of June when one of our cats, Charlie, became very unwell and we were convinced we were about to lose him. Every minute of every day was spent monitoring him, trying to coax him to eat, worrying about him, wondering when/if we should take him back to the vet, trying to prepare ourselves for the worst whilst hoping and praying for a good outcome. Mercifully, Charlie seems to have made a good recovery, although we still don't know what was causing him to be ill and whether or not he will relapse.  Whatever the future holds, I am so relieved he is still with us and is happy again, tucking into his food and enjoying cuddles, being his old self.  I'm determined to treasure each day that he's well and see it as a bonus.  

After such a traumatic time, I'm more than happy to settle for a quiet, stable phase of life.  When Charlie was ill, I didn't care two hoots about running.  Now that life has returned to a calmer state, I'm enjoying my runs again, but in the grand scheme of things, running challenges do seem like a very small thing to be concerned with. I was running more miles this time last year and my pace was faster.  I also had a lot of races planned.  But it's not something I'm going to lose sleep over.  It makes sense to keep things simple at the moment.  I am just so relieved that I'm in a state of mind where I want to go out and run, because a few weeks ago I couldn't even contemplate it.  This experience with Charlie has made me extremely anxious.  As far as my pets are concerned, I have always been a worrier, but this has definitely made me worse.  I still feel quite emotionally fragile, but I do feel soothed when I'm outside, close to nature and I'm sure it's helping me a little.  Sometimes just tuning into the patterns of nature gives you a sense that the universe has its own plans and there are things we can't control.  Whilst this is obviously unsettling, it's also weirdly reassuring because it's that need to be in control that makes a crisis such a distressing experience. Sometimes it can actually bring us peace to let go of the need to control, to stop fighting nature and to let destiny take over, to let things flow,  It's easier said than done, of course, but I do find that thinking about it this way can help me to feel calmer, which has to be good for me, for my family and for Charlie.  Running feels like a key part of my healing process at the moment.  

From medals to flowers!