This stage can last for months, even years. You get to a certain point with your running, and just kind of… stay there. You don’t get any faster, you don’t feel like running longer distances – you settle into a groove and get yourself comfy.

You settle into a groove and get yourself comfy

It’s a bit like a marriage: after a while all the sparks and drama die down and are replaced by an easy, everyday familiarity. If that sounds like a living death to you, you have two ways out of it: you can ‘have an affair’ (i.e. sign up for an event that’s way beyond your current capabilities) or ‘get divorced’ (i.e. sack running off and take up cycling instead).