Road to the NYC Marathon: Navigating Languor and Listlessness

Laura Smith Writer

Road to the NYC Marathon: Navigating Languor and Listlessness

August 8, 2024

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Sloth, disinterest, listless, languor, disinterest, laziness, otiosity, the list goes on. The question: What is the opposite of motivation? I woke up this morning well-rested according to my Whoop. With almost 8 hours of sleep and a 82% recovery with a HRV of 48 (high for me!) I should have been raring to go. But alas, I did not want to get out of bed, did not want to run. The low humidity and cloud cover made this the perfect summer weather for a long run; there was really no reason for my complete lack of motivation. This week’s long run should be a 16 miler, and I have already had a rest day and completed my 8 miler. I should I should I should be inspired and enthusiastic. But with marathon training one just never knows. As my mileage creeps up the time I as a slower runner needs for my training creeps up. I have no idea how I will navigate my training when the school year begins in a few weeks, so I have been conscientious about plowing through the plan, completing the runs and the strength training, to top load it just in case. Training does not work that way, and I know that I am hitting a minor motivational blip. What I do not know is how to navigate these “blah” days when I know that others are juggling jobs alongside training. What I do know is that these moods change, and tomorrow is a new day. Any tips or tricks for the mid marathon training slump?

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● About Me

I wrote and published my first blog post on May 26, 2009. I was about to turn 36 and had been accepted to Mount Holyoke College as a non-traditional student, on my way to completing a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in Medieval Studies. I had managed, finally, to know what general direction I was traveling. As a self proclaimed voracious reader I knew that I needed a vocation that would allow me to engage daily with words: reading words, writing words, and hearing words. I also needed to eat, so I navigated my way to a teaching position and I began to fine tune my craft. I love to teach and I love my students, but I also needed to continue to hone my own literary technique, voice, and style. I continued my education in order to delve deeper into literature, making connections, and most definitely, writing. I gained more confidence as a reader as well as a writer of both creative and analytical text. That first blog post in 2009 is short, the writing average, and the topic mundane, but as I continued to learn from other writers I began to understand that to become a better writer I needed to write more. Each time I write and release a poem, a post, or a story, I hone my skills. I invite you along for the ride, for this journey of mine as I attempt to wrangle a wealth of ideas and competing directions into an organized freshly paved path to publication. I might get distracted along the way, but sometimes those detours lead us to amazing views and new friends.