Keeping up, or not

For a multitude of reasons, since I ran the marathon, my running has been very sporadic. I have run no more than once per week, and have gone a number of weeks in a row without running at all. Even when I did run, most of the runs were in the range of 12km.

It makes sense to me. I never considered myself a real "runner". I ran because I had a goal. I achieved my goal, and then my motivation to continue running tanked. So I let all sorts of schedule conflicts get in the way and stop me from running on my scheduled running days.

The truth is that even though I am not a real runner, and have not really developed a "love" of the sport, it has a lot of benefits that make me want to continue, for now, at least on some level. Playing baseball and basketball for the past 10 years never helped me lose as much weight as I lost running for four months.

So I am trying to make the time to run, when I can.

I went running this past Friday. I ran with a friend, and we ran 12.6km at a reasonable pace - much slower than what my average was during marathon training.

I must say that I was completely wiped by the end of the run (though I still played in my regular Friday basketball game a couple hours later). Not only that, but two days later and I am still sore from the run.

That is pathetic. 2 months ago, 12km runs were my bread and butter. They were the basic staple of my week. They were the short runs. I could run then 18km - 21km without blinking an eye - no soreness, no feeling wiped out, etc. Only if I ran above 24km or so did I start to feel like I was really working (unless the run included a lot of uphill running).

Clearly, the drop off is much quicker than I anticipated.

Thinking about that made me also think about the drop off in other aspects of life - if you don't keep up with something, you lose it.

That is true in every aspect of your life. In your studies - if you do not review what you have learned, you will forget it. If you do not keep up with your relationships, they will move on and your friendship and love will wither and disappear. If you do not keep up with your skills, they will disappear.