Spring is here. After four months of days with really short daylight and miserable weather (grey skies, rain and cold), is it a wonder that the blue skies, the warm gentle sunshine, and the green vegetation fill me with such joy? It’s a bonus when you come across golden fields of rapeseeds. The small four-petaled yellow flowers on the tall, slim green swaying in the gentle breeze, accompanied by the joyful chirping of birds.
Due to various reasons including laziness (the key reason), depressing weather, and a chronic injury (something to do with enthesopathy, near the butt bone and hamstring), my mileage has dwindled to almost nil. With the improvement in the weather (that is, until I complain that it’s too hot to run), I hope to get my running mojo back.
This is the first spring that Silviu and I are celebrating in our newish house. With a small forest in our backyard, we really have no excuse not to run.
Silviu and I have stopped going to our bi-weekly training sessions with our running club, since the beginning of 2021. I can cite various reasons for not joining the club: the immediate post lockdown rules that everyone had to wear masks in the club (other than during the actual running), the time-consuming search for a house, and the house renovation. Frankly, the main reason is again our laziness, or perhaps deeper down, the laziness is caused by a lack of motivation.
When we first came to France, we switched from fast hiking/trail running to road running. As a result of the regular tough training sessions, we became faster. Instead of doing ultras, we did short cross-country, 10km, semi and marathons. The fruits of our labour spurred us to train regularly.
Up to a certain point, Silviu and I reached a plateau. For both Silviu and I, it’s likely because we don’t have the running genes. That’s only a limit to the amount of gains we can reap from our training. Consequently, our running motivation has dropped drastically. In addition, I tend to get injured easily. My recent chronic injury prevents me from pushing hard with my right leg, going faster. If I try to push and run faster, especially any place with a bit of elevation, the hamstring/butt area will start to ache; the ache can sometimes last for a few days. This injury has definitely dampened my desire to run.
Is the running momentum that started nine years ago in Hong Kong finally coming to an end? I really hope not. For the past few months, Silviu and I have become one of those weekend road warriors—runners who run once a week for 5km-10km, usually during the weekend—that we joked about. With the arrival of spring, I hope we can get back to running. Perhaps not in the previous competitive mode, but more frequent and mileage than a weekend road warrior.
