Regrouping looks like quitting to people who don’t know there’s a second half.

Stepping back is hard to distinguish from stopping, especially for people watching from outside. They see the absence and fill it in with the simplest story available, which is that you gave up, because they were not there for the part where you decided to reset. Their reading is not information about your situation.

If you have pulled back to gather yourself, you do not owe anyone a progress report. Give yourself an honest timeframe and something small to do inside it. The explanation can come later, in the form of whatever you do next.