Post-Marathon Blues got you down?
Ok, for all you non-LA runners you’re probably thinking this blog is not for you…WRONG! If you have ever set a goal, hit a goal and then woke up the next day keep reading:)
The other day one of my NurtiBullet team members wrote on Facebook “Marathon Blues”. If you. Are not a runner you’re thinking she’s crazy if you. Are a runner you probably have an idea. Basically, Natalia is feeling the aftermath. After the runners High has left the body. After the muscle soreness has subsided. The Marathon Blues are the NOW WHAT’s many of us feel after working so hard towards a goal, hitting it, celebrating and then waking up the next day wondering what next.
Another Marathon Blues example… You spend months preparing for your birthday party! You plan the details, set it up, plan your outfit and the details. The party happens, goes amazingly of course. Then the next morning you wonder what you’ll be doing with all that extra time in your schedule, in your daily thoughts…you with me now?
Think about the last goal you achieved. Now go back to that moment…was it fireworks, giddiness, excitement, elation…? The next day how did you feel?the next week where were you at? Did you have your next goal already set up or a plan in place about what achieving that goal would mean. What did you do after hitting it? How did you feel?
This morning while on my run with a few teammates. I overheard my co-captain “does the pressure feel like its on or off now that LAmarathon is over?
After you hit your last goal what was the pressure like? Was there any?
For me for example I would totally be feeling the marathon blues except…I already had my next race and running schedule mapped out! I realized after hitting several non-running related goals that having a new project continuing the project I was working on was the best way to keep the momentum going! For example, I wrote my first book! It was amazing to send it off to the publishers a finished manuscript. But then I had all this extra time and I found myself having the goal achieved hangover…I had no other project lined up to continue the original goal. It’s like arriving at your destination without an agenda. Why would you travel somewhere without some idea of what to do when you got there?
So, in an effort to avoid the hangover I planned a new race and run group before this last race. I set goals for the LAmarathon and as the race came I told myself this is your starting point. Next race you’re beating the time you set here today.
It worked! I was high, flying from the sky post LAmarathon. Ecstatic for the achievements I had made. Days later I’m still enjoying how great it feels to have hit a personal goal. But, instead of feeling this lingering,nagging or waffling feeling. I know exactly where I’m going with this information and achievement. I have plans in place to continue progressing. Isn’t that what goals and hitting your goals is for? To progress yourself to the next level?
To answer my co-captains question “pressure on or off” it’s both. I feel the pressure of a new goal in the horizon but I also know what I am capable of doing!
So, what goals are you working on? Once hit what will you be doing with that achievement? How does hitting that goal change your world, progress you?
No more marathon blues, no more goal achieved hangovers!
