"You run too much"

Well, it's been over a year since I posted here! I am going to try to get back on track, just as I am trying to get my running back on track.

This is how the past year looked:

• June 2011 - 77 miles. Started dating someone who told me that I run too much and need to try other things. 
• July 2011 - 72.5 miles. Trying new things while attempting to keep my running at a maintenance level.
• August 2011 - 72 miles. Still managing to maintain, still being told I run too much. 
• September 2011 - 69.9 miles. Having a hard time balancing everything.
• October 2011 - 47.3 miles. First time bungee jumping. 
• November 2011 - 62 miles. In spite of the decreases, I managed a 10km pb of 54:12. 
• December 2011 - 48 miles. Still being told I run too much. 
• January 2012 - 48.2 miles. Thinking about 2012 races, missing being an ultra runner, and missing trail running. 
• February 2012 - 19.3 miles. Low enough? No, I still "run too much". Start learning how to swim.
• March 2012 - 25 miles. Still working on swimming. Missing long runs on the trails. 
• April 2012 - 52 miles. Stop dating the person holding me back. Start trying to get my fitness back. Still swimming. Discover that I've gained 5lb over the past year.
• May 2012 - 65.2 miles. My fitness is slow coming back. Still swimming. First whitewater rafting trip.
• June 2012 - 65.4 miles, including some hiking. Every run is a struggle. Swam 3 times and then decided that it's going on the backburner until winter, so that I can go mountain biking once a week instead. :) 

And that brings us to July. As you can guess, I learned a few things over the past year! ;) But now I am really struggling to get my fitness back. It's strange to me that two years ago I went from injured to 50 miles in just 6 months, but right now I am struggling to do even 20k runs. I really hope the balance starts to tip soon and I start feeling better on my runs! I keep telling myself that it will come as I keep working at it.

For motivation, I am doing the 22.5km option at the Squamish50 on August 11. Having a goal keeps me moving forward, and I am excited about the race.

I am also considering a 50km in October. It will be a challenge to be ready for that, but again the goal is key for keeping me motivated. I'll decide that based on how things go the next few weeks.

Lesson learned: Running makes me happy. Being pressured not to run makes me unhappy. I won't make that mistake again!