Goodbye Summer and helloooo Autumn!
Goodbye Summer and helloooo Autumn! Tuesday, September 22nd is the Autumn Equinox. This is a day when daylight and darkness are equal in length. I like to look at this as a physical reminder to find more balance within myself and in my life. I love the long daylight hours of Summer when I can run in the sunshine and play outside all day long. But by the end of August I find myself ready for less sunshine and cooler weather. The summer heat in Sacramento, California where I live, can be brutal. I find myself counting down the days to fall temperatures, and leaves falling and crunching under my feet.
This summer has been tough with heat waves, wild fires, and poor air quality. I haven’t been able to run outside lately and it has been wearing down on my soul. When I cannot run I start to feel less like myself. I feel myself become unbalanced and I feel myself become depressed. I have to dig deep within myself to find the tools that help me find myself again.
Over the years I have practiced a routine of strength training alongside my running routine. Strength training is a great way to help strengthen your whole body, but I like to focus on the smaller muscles that support the larger muscles while running. As runners we tend to overlook our smaller muscles and just focus on our quadriceps, glutes, hamstrings, and calves. It is very important to add in exercises to strengthen your feet, hips, back, core, arms, and so many other small muscle groups. When you strengthen the smaller muscles along with the larger muscles you will help prevent injuries and improve as a runner. While stuck inside these last few weeks I worked on my strength routines. Now that the air quality is improving, I feel ready to get back outside and on the trails.
Let the first day of Autumn be a reminder to look for a balance in your life and in your workout routines. Remember to add in strength work to you running routine to continue to balance your amazing runner body! We will all miss those long hours of sunshine, but let the relief of shorter days and cooler temperatures be a beautiful inspiration to run more outside.
Keep looking for ways to find balance in yourself. When I find balance within myself it helps me remember why I truly love to run. Run to feel alive. Run to take care of your body and mind. Run to feel free. Run to connect to nature. Run to connect with yourself. Run to challenge yourself. Run to see the world outside and watch the seasons change. Why do you run?
Happy Autumn Equinox! And see you on the beautiful golden trails!
Coach Sarah
P.S. If you have been needing more inspiration and balance to start running or you are on the fence about getting a coach to grow as a runner then send me a message! I would loooove to help motivate and inspire you to love running!
