I never thought it would happen to me. Over the past few years I have never had a problem getting up, being active, and learning on my own. Often, in school, I would hear others talk about their lack of desire to workout or be active, and I did not quite understand how they could feel that way; that is until I started feeling that way!

In the beginning of 2020, I set goals for myself to run a 5k in a certain amount of time, and that I would accomplish this by running a few days each week. At the start of my goal, I was committed and excited to run again, I mean it had been around four years since I’d had a running routine. As I began my running journey, I quickly realized that my ability to breeze through 3 miles was no longer automatic. Instead of getting down on myself, I decided to look at this as a challenge to my mental and physical capabilities. For another month or two, I continued to run fairly consistently and saw some improvements in how I felt during the runs. Time continued to pass, my weekends filled with trips to visit family, I was in the “real world” for the first time since graduating, and I began to feel the wear of work, relationships, and the pressures of learning more and more.

By the time the middle of summer came around, I had basically discontinued my running routine and felt disappointed in myself. Even when I would map out a training plan for the week, I could not follow through with it. I truly was in a slump and tried to change my routine to find an activity that would excite me again. For around a month I switched from my running routine to a yoga and walking routine. This change helped temporarily, but I soon found myself in the same position as before - I had little desire to do yoga, and the walks would vary depending on the day. At this point, I decided that I needed more accountability to begin working out again.

As fall came around, I made the decision to begin small group fitness classes, which I hoped would give me set workout times and accountability - and they did. In all honesty, most of the accountability in the beginning came from the expense of a gym membership and guilt for not attending a class. I also decided to make other changes to my routine in order to give myself time to reset, reflect, and create habits that promoted a positive self-perception. Personally, my new morning routine looked like this: early morning workouts, breakfast, reading or listening to a podcast, and/or listening to music.

Initially, these changes seemed exhausting. I was pretty sore from the change in my workout regimen and had a hard time starting my days so early. As time passed, I realized the mornings got easier (ok, some days are easier than others..), my excitement to be active started coming back, and I had a routine to stick to since early mornings mean early bedtimes. My accountability was no longer just guilt of not attending a class or related to finances, I wanted to go to my workouts because I knew I would feel energized afterwards and would be more inclined to perform the rest of my morning routine if I attended class.

I guess, my point with this story is to show that it is okay to ​not accomplish​a goal (no, I did not meet my running goal for 2020) and it is normal to feel stagnant with your workouts. While these feelings are okay, I do think it is very important to do some soul-searching and uncover why these plateaus in motivation are occurring and try new routines, activities, etc. in order to find a way beyond the plateau. If you are at a stand-still in your routine, I hope this story influences you to seek out your motivation again. It’s there, you just need to find it!

-Dr. Kylar