Time to Refocus!

For multiple reasons, mostly mental, I’ve had a hard time getting interested in racing or even driving from home to places to train so the majority of my running has been on Lynx Hollow Road. The last race I ran this month was a Taco Tuesday 5K on the 6th. Since today is the 21st I guess it hasn’t really been that long it has just seemed like it because I’ve been in a funk. I had some oatmeal with blackberries I picked right out of our pasture for pre race meal. It was another hot afternoon race. 83 degrees at the start and I was disappointed in my time again which played a small part in my loss of motivation. I had planned to run two more races that week and talked myself out of both of them. I woke up five minutes before my alarm for Saturday’s Race, said to heck with it and turned it off. Something I never do. 



One of the things I realized when trying to dissect this slump is that I lost sight of the second of my three goals for racing. “Enjoy it as much as possible between the start and finish”. I had started focusing to much on what my time was and the fact that it wasn’t getting better. Once I really changed my focus from time I got motivated to race again and signed up for a 5K this weekend at Alton Baker Park. I’m going to try to get back to enjoying the run and not thinking of it as a race that is a success or failure based on what my time is. 



Not even starting my watch seemed to work well. I can do that with Eclectic Edge races because they always have immediate and accurate results. While I didn’t run much faster than I have been running I was a little faster and enjoyed the race more. It was a well organized race for a first year event and a beautiful day. 

That’ll be my last race for August before a busy September that I’m planning. I had considered a 5.5 mile trail race this weekend and even drove out to the trailhead with plans to hike part of it and get an idea of the course. That plan ended the way a lot of my hiking plans have ended since I’ve been here with no hiking or running. The cougar situation around here has been crazy this year and for the most part when I try to do a new trail these are the signs I’m greeted with. 











I wouldn’t worry if the trails were busy but they’re usually not when I go so my solo trail running and hiking has taken a big hit. 

I did see some interesting things driving to and from the trailhead though. 



One disappointing thing that happened in August was the closing of Joe’s, my favorite breakfast place in Creswell. Donna, Brandy and I went on the last day they were open. I ordered my favorite breakfast burrito smothered in green chili and it turned out the were out of tortillas so I had it as a breakfast bowl with toast. Man was it good! I’ll miss Joe’s. 




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