lazy, lazy...dreadfully lazy

You may have noticed that I haven't been blogging very consistently over the last week or so. If you were able to pay attention to my running, you would have noticed the same inconsistency with that as well. So, what's the deal?

The reason is simple: I've been in a lazy mood. Now, I don't often go through these lazy spells (in the summer anyway) but every once in a while I do. I don't always have a specific explanation for my lazy times, but they always seem to coincide with the times that I've been working too much or have been stressed out.

Last month I wrote a blog post detailing the importance of pushing through when you don't feel like running in a post titled every big tree started out as a little seed. I am not looking to contradict what I wrote in that post, but I'm looking to balance it out.

To understand this, you must understand that there is a big difference between wanting to quit or random laziness for laziness sake and a prolonged period of laziness resultant from overworking yourself or stress.

And here is my theory to dealing with week-long laziness that comes with working too hard or stress...allow it! Doesn't that fly in the face of perseverance? Some might argue that. What I've found to be true, however, is that when I run a lot during these times, I don't get much out of my runs anyway. I've also found that I prolong my laziness by pushing myself and thus further burning myself out. I exacerbate the problem. I have learned that it's better to take a break for a week. It makes me fresher for the week following both physically and (more importantly) mentally.

This isn't only true of running either. I allow myself a break from everything non-essential. I simply veg out for a week. And last week was a great week of vegging out. I only ran 2 three-mile runs. I was miserable during both. I only wrote 1 blog. I had to force my way through that. I basically took a week off from everything. It felt great!

Now today, I'm feeling so refreshed and ready to get back at it. So, if you're feeling stressed out or overworked and have struggled to have ambition to exercise, run errands or do any number of other non-essential tasks, maybe you should listen to your body and relax for a week. It might be just what you need.