once (again) a runner

I've taken a relatively L O N G break from running. Not a step from August 30 till October 15.  During this hiatus the main thing was to rest and recover from many aches, pains, and injuries, plus recharge the batteries, especially motivation and intensity.  It took about one week off to get past the withdrawal and actually enjoy NOT being a runner.  Another week and running seemed mysteriously strange. One more week and it became hard to envision actually doing this for anything other than fitness.  Another week and the runners were a group that didn't include me anymore.  I was out of the game. My motivation for performing as a runner was gone.  I had no problem with anyone else running, I just wasn't interested personally.

After several weeks in this altered state, the itch to be a runner started to show up again. 

Now.. Its back!  I've set up a plan and hope to race well in my (reluctantly) best event the 1 mile in January 2009.  (I say reluctantly because the pain/time product is possibly a maximum (high pain for a relatively long time), I wish I was better at something either longer or shorter!).  Only the 800 meters can possibly compete for king of pain.

The point here is, suppose that motivation simply did not come back at all.  It was not something I intentionally brought back in, it simply showed back up all by itself.  It might be one of those things that one time I'll take a break and never come back to competing.

I wonder if people keep on keeping on because they are fearful if they ease up, the game will be over permanently?