I took a total of four days off from running and ran for the first time yesterday on a treadmill. I hate treadmills, but I really just needed to avoid running in 85-degree weather and dying of heat stroke. Plus, I can control my speed on a treadmill, and it’s flat 100% of the time.
The first mile was ass, like always, but as I got into the groove of it, it got better. By mile two, I was feeling pretty great, and I had a moment where I remembered… I remembered what it was like to love it.
I think lately I’ve been forcing myself to do a lot of things I didn’t want to do. While I think discipline is very important, I also think it’s important to discipline myself into taking breaks—especially since all of my discipline goes into exercising, school, or something productive, all of which can be very draining.
Sometimes taking a break is discipline because your body needs one. Honestly, I feel so much better. I was able to paint and crochet for the first time in a long time, and nothing felt like a true task.
Life doesn’t ever truly slow down for me, but that doesn’t mean I can’t slow myself down. As much as I hate to admit it, I have to tell myself that it’s okay to slow down. It’s either that or be paralyzed by burnout for months at a time.
This burnout has been the longest stretch of burnout I’ve had in years, so I really can’t do everything all the time. Maybe that’s not such a bad thing.