Take A Break

Take a break.

I’ve blogged about this before, but apparently it’s something that we need to hear. Or maybe it’s just something that I need to hear. Over and over again.

I’ve learned that in running, I have to take breaks. Training takes a toll both mentally and physically, so backing off is imperative if you want to be a life-long runner. And I want like hell to be a life-long runner.

So I schedule breaks of all kinds: weekly, monthly, yearly. Sundays are always my rest days. I know that I need one day a week to recoup. But within a training schedule I give myself easy days in addition to days off. Weekly.

After months of training, I schedule easy months. This gives me time to reset, to rest my legs and brain and get a few other things done.

I also schedule easy years. I train for a marathon every other year. I don’t miss training days and can become very focused while training for a marathon, so I know that I need some years where I’m just running for fun. While I love training, it can also be exhausting, and I want to make sure that running doesn’t become a chore. I love running, and I want to continue to love running.

Right now I’m training for a 10k, which I don’t normally do. I train for marathons, and when I’m not, I’m just running for fun. Training has been going well, but I was feeling pretty run-down at the beginning of the week. I pushed through a couple of runs anyway, but on Wednesday I decided to take a day off.

I hate skipping runs. Resting on scheduled rest days are fine. But skipping a scheduled run during training eats away at me. It leaves a stickerless hole in my lovely calendar, and I really hate that.

It was the right decision. My legs were feeling heavy and I took the day off. And I ran better the next day.

I took the day off writing too, and that was the right choice. I made hard decisions on my day off, but they were the right decisions, and my story will be better for it.

Just like running, just like anything, in order to continue to do the things you love to do, you have to take breaks, refresh yourself, and come back stronger.

I take breaks after a draft and after revisions, but I hate taking breaks when I’m in the middle of something. Like running, it makes me feel like a quitter, and I am not a quitter.

But I’ve got to keep telling myself that taking time away is not quitting. It’s just refueling. It’s just refreshing. It’s just necessary.

Books, BEA, and RECLAIMED, oh my: Why 2013 is Going to be Amazing

1. Books: The great thing about a new year is all the new books I’ll get a chance to read. While I love re-reading my favorites (I’m planning on re-reading The Hounds of the Morrigan, my absolute favorite book from elementary school, which I haven’t read in years), diving into a new book is like stepping into a whole other universe. It’s exhilarating and a little terrifying because you have no idea who you’ll be by the time you finish reading it. The great books change us in both large and small ways, and I just want to say thanks in advance to all the authors out there who are going to alter my world just a little this year. I’ve already blogged about some books I’m looking forward to in 2013 here, but here are just a few that have attracted my interest since then.

Altered, by Jenn Rush

Archived, by Victoria Schwab

Camp Boyfriend, by JK Rock

The Dollhouse Asylum, Mary Gray

 

2. BEA: I’ve never been to NYC before. I’m a little intimidated and a whole lot excited. I get to be there promoting Reclaimed, which is even better. I’m going to get to hang out with my editor Danielle Ellison and fellow SHP writer Erica Cameron, as well as various members of the SHP family. We are going to have shenanigans. I may even get to meet Dahl and other Twitter friends who decide if I’m that far north they must come play. So I’ll be in New York City, at BEA, as an author, meeting lots of amazing people. I may need to bring my smelling salts.

 

3. Reclaimed: Guys, I love this book so much. I guess I should, since I wrote it, but my fellow writers know that isn’t always the case. I adore these characters, flaws and all, and I can’t wait to share Jenna, Ian, and Luke with all of you. I’m also terrified. Because this is the year that I let my words out into the world. I’ve nurtured them and swore at them, and now they are ready to be out on their own. I’m so scared. And elated. But most of all, ready.

 

My focus word for the year is BALANCE. I have to do a better job balancing all areas of my life – friends, family, teaching, writing. But I also need to make sure that I take care of myself too. I’m not going to feel guilty when I need to take a day or two off to recharge. This is not a race, and I don’t have to speed through my days by trying to cram too much into each hour. I’m going to read, write, run, dance, laugh, cry, and learn to let myself off the hook. I’m going to succeed and fail this year, in one way or another.  And I’m going to enjoy every damn minute of the ride.