Finding my mojo

You may have noticed a lack of posts over the last 3-4 weeks.  My apologies but I wasn't in the mood or to put it another way, I'd lost my mojo.  It happens from time to time and for me it was due to a recurring injury which meant I couldn't run.  I've been working hard at my yoga to try and help with my dodgy hamstrings but to no avail.  Therefore my training was restricted to some light gym work, yoga and swimming.  But I was missing my running.
I was also busy at work and achieved a lifetime goal of selling my business to set myself up for retirement. I'll be working on for at least two years but the pressure of running the business has been lifted and I can concentrate on the best part of the job, looking after my clients.  I can also start planning for getting a campervan and heading into the mountains with Beth, our favourite place.
A bit of celebrating took place and I also turned 61 so training wasn't high on the agenda.  A good excuse to rest my hammy.
On Friday we headed off to Loch Lomond for a few nights away and took full advantage of the surroundings.  On Friday we headed up to Ben More - it's about as steep a climb as you can get, 1,076 metres of vertical "stair master".  We even went through snow before the top but it was a good test of my hammy and it passed.
On Saturday we walked up Conic Hill which is half the elevation with less gradient.  I had a good "talk to myself" as I was climbing the hill as I realised my "frame of mind" was poor.  I was telling myself I was unfit which then lowered my expectations as to what I could do.  I was just coming through some injuries and was on my road to recovery so decided to "get out my puddle" and get back on track for URR in August.  When we reached the summit we ran down the other side and along the West Highland Way taking the total distance to 14km.  Towards the end of the run I was "in the zone" and running freely which felt amazing.  My talking to was showing results already.
This morning we ran towards Rowardennan along the shore of Loch Lomond as the sun rose.  Stunning scenery and a good leg warm up with 8km covered.  We are so lucky in this part of the world to have amazing scenery and mountains close to where we live.
So I have found my mojo.  By lunchtime I'd signed up for the Glentress half marathon in February and the Full Tilt 58km Ultra in June.  I had already entered the  Manchester marathon in April and have the Ultra Race Romania in August.  The icing on the cake is that Beth will be joining me on these races which will make training much easier as we can motivate each other as if you don't have a training partner, there are a lot of lonely miles ahead.
You can't be on form 365 days a year and your motivation will fluctuate, especially if you are injured.  But we know that when we are feeling fit we feel unstoppable.  Do take some downtime over the festive period but not too long as it's harder to get back on it.  Build it back slowly and get some races in your calendar.  It creates the focus you need.