“I hope this doesn’t come out the wrong way, but I’m so glad to hear you say that. I thought I was the only one.”

These were the words a friend of mine said to me after I shared with her how I’ve been feeling running lately. I opened up to her about everything – about how all my easy paced runs feel tortuously hard. How I have to walk during every run that’s longer than 3 miles outside. How my current pace to survive is what my recovery pace was just six months ago.

I told her I feel like I’ve forgotten how to run.

“Me too,” she said.

I’m not alone. She’s not alone. You’re not alone. I can’t tell you how many of my coaching clients and running friends have shared about their struggles with hitting paces and workouts in the heat and humidity this summer. We go through ups and downs as runners. We can be on top of the world at the end of one training cycle and then be in the back of the pack quicker than we can say “personal best.”

Admittedly, I’ve always loathed running in the heat. Give me 25 degrees over 85 degrees (Fahrenheit) any day of the week. I knew moving to Florida as summer was ushering itself in would not be easy, but I didn’t expect to feel like this. I thought it would be hard, but that it would make me stronger. Tougher. Instead, I’m the complete opposite. My husband thinks it’s all mental – that I’ve decided I can’t do it and therefore I’m struggling. I wish it was that easy. My body has just been hitting a wall around three or four miles. Outside, my heart rate is higher and my perceived effort is harder. When I run indoors on the treadmill, it’s a little different. Still challenging but bearable. I can hit faster paces without feeling the need to walk.

Running is the most empowering and yet most humbling sport. Right now, running and I are in a disagreement, but I’m hoping we’re going to kiss and make up soon. There are things I can be doing to improve my current circumstances, and I’m going to commit to them during the next two months:

• Run earlier. I simply haven’t been running early enough or getting up early enough to get some fuel and water in my system so I can run early. I’m going to commit to getting up earlier and meeting a friend of mine at least twice a week to run before the sun comes up. Running earlier coupled with running with a partner and not running on an empty fuel tank always make me run better.
• Get access to a treadmill. Since I’ve been moving around a lot the past few months while our house is being built in Tampa, I don’t have a regular gym membership or access to a treadmill like I’ve always had. I’m going to get a short-term gym membership so I can run on the treadmill whenever I want. This will prevent me from making excuses or skipping a run when I know mentally it may be too hot for me to feel productive.
• Be more structured. I’ve been doing whatever I want whenever I want when it comes to running and fitness this year. Although this is my year of running for fun, not having a true plan makes it easy for me to shorten my runs or not run as much as I can or should. I’m running a half marathon at the beginning of October. Although it will be just for fun, I don’t want to feel the way I’m feeling now during that race. I’m putting a structured plan together for myself for the next seven weeks. No more fly by the seat of my pants. While it has been fun, it is no longer serving me well from a physical or mental perspective.

Above all else, if you’re struggling like me right now, don’t forget why you’re doing this. Don’t forget that there is always a good mile ahead, even when it feels like we’ve banked a thousand bad ones already. Continue finding the joy in the miles, even the hard ones. Xo

Have you ever felt like you’ve forgotten how to run? What areas are you struggling with most right now and how do you overcome them?