This morning I intended to run 5 miles, three at a tempo pace. A nagging soreness directly behind my knee (that began on Tuesday's long trail run) prompted me to shorten it to three miles at a recovery pace before I even stepped out the door. I stretched it in the hot tub, rolled, then stretched while running. That ache went away, but a new tightness formed in my shin. I just 100% wasn't feeling up to it. Five minutes into it, I turned around and went home. A single mile for today.
Some people would recommend running though uncomfortable and unmotivated days, claiming they make one stronger. I really know my body well and today was not an ordinary "blah" day.
Feeling deflated, I consulted my running log. Immediately I found the problem:
Saturday- 12.6 miles, hard because I felt great.
Sunday - 3 miles, a super easy pace with lots of stopping to stretch.
Monday- 6 miles, marathon race pace. Comfortably hard.
Tuesday- 25+ miles on trails, super slow but hard. (still working on a recap)
Wednesday- Rest day!
Thursday- epic failure today.
That's not enough rest; anyone can see that. But I didn't.
I'm used to having a training plan printed out and tacked to a wall so I can look at it and change things around based on my schedule. It is easy to see consecutive run days. My current schedule still remains on the Excel spreadsheet on my computer. I thought it would be fine to just write weekly plans on my personal planner book. But every Sunday morning, I turn the page. Suddenly I can no longer see the previous week. Without Saturday's long run, I would have been fine.
---
This week was designed to be an experiment. Can I do a tempo and race pace run in the same week? With my current fitness level, I've got to say NO. And that is okay.
As for that tempo run I skipped today, I'm just going to scrap it and start fresh next week. (finally one lesson I know I learned well!!) Instead, I'll spend the day perusing the town shops and having a coffee date with the Hubby.
What do you do to cope with disappointing runs?
I just take them as they are and try to rationalize the shortcomings. Sometimes there is a reason, sometimes not.
7 comments:
I did a five mile run yesterday and struggled to maintain a snail pace. Today my legs are sore. Depressing. So I ate brownies and am going to the gym to change it up. A 25 mile run is huge.
Yep, not enough rest for sure. Glad you cut that one short.
I've had lots of running disappointments over the past year. I just keep trying to adapt to rediscover a happy/strong pace.
Smart decision to turn back - not a failure. Who knows, maybe on some other day that amount of rest would have been fine for you. The key is to listen to your body, be flexible and smart about your training. Don't feel bad, you probably saved yourself from injury.
(btw, if you don't see many comments from me in the near future it is not that I don't like you anymore. I just need to focus on other things in my life. I'll be back.)pilit
Sometimes the hardest thing is resting, at least for me. It's temping to push and only realize in hindsight that it was too much. Well done for recognizing it!
Eh, one run doesn't define who we are as runners. I've just learned to let go. Next year, you might be fine with that week, tempo and all. Or maybe not. The fact that you know when to stop is awesome...nothing to be disappointed with.
Running through pain is, as I've learned the hard way, a terrible idea.
I used to be like you with training plans and tempo runs and all that but I don't even log my workouts anymore -- it frees me to not ever be disappointed and cross-train more and focus on getting outside and staying active and doing what I love and being happy. Obviously this approach isn't going to win races but it is a better mental game for me...
You will get stronger and stronger, you'll be able to do the temps and pace runs, as long as your give yourself some rest in between! We sometimes forget that rest is actually the best fuel we can give our running.
Post a Comment