Where did the mojo go?

For the past several weeks, running has not been the driving force in my daily routine. It's been a chance to take things easy, sleep in and enjoy the spring break holiday with my kids. A month has gone by since Ragnar and I have logged maybe 20 miles total. I don't feel bad about that but I can certainly tell it's had a negative impact on my work/life balance.

I love my job. There are days when the list of things to do is overwhelming and long. I could spend 14 hours a day and not get it all done. Though I love what I do, I've discovered that without running (or a fitness goal of some kind) I fall deeper and deeper into that abyss of all-work-no-play-makes-Trevor-a-dull-boy. I become the Jack Torrence of our house...."Heeeeere's Johnny!!"

Creating a boundary between work and running actually helps me ensure I am more organized, efficient with my time and aggressive with deadlines. For example, I've been stewing on a work issue for the past several days and was not getting anywhere. It was actually p*ssing me off that I couldn't get it figured out. Though I had to force myself to go running early this morning (a small win all by itself), I was able to spend time completely focused on this issue. By the time I had sorted things out in my head, 5 miles were in the bag and I felt great that I had accomplished 2 things at the same time.

So where's this blog heading Trev? Good question.

Just like we do at work, we set goals for the year and then map out a plan to get there. The same holds true for my endurance (fitness) goals. Given that I've been languishing in the solitude of work, I finally pulled the trigger on a race I've been contemplating for a while now.

We'll be in South Dakota most of June (more on that later) and it was the perfect opportunity to revisit not only trail running (which I've fallen in love with) but a distance that I know will challenge and push me to the very limits of my physical and mental capabilities.

Hello Black Hills. Hello 50 mile run with 9,100 feet of elevation gain.

Where did the mojo go? It was just misplaced.

But now it's found.