Late last night, I went out for an hour run, or so I thought. I loaded up my iPod with just over an hour of music for the run and walked out the door. On my way to the starting point, I realized I had forgotten my watch. I, purposefully, left the chest strap for my heart rate monitor behind, but without a watch, I would be clueless. Mainly, because I was running/walking 14/1(minutes). So, I counted the songs I had, which were 16 in total and walked a minute after every 4 songs. Not an exact split, but it worked. I felt I ran strong having finished just shy of 9 miles, but I was disappointed with my minute per mile. It shouldn’t have felt like it did. It felt too hard for the pace on a road. I’m out of proper aerobic shape and wondering aimlessly with my training. What to do…
First, what to fix. The tiredness I’ve been feeling from training way too hard too many days each week. My body needs rest, it needs recovery, proper nutrition, and adequate sleep. It’s very easy to get caught up in racing all the time. When I look back at this year, I ran distances at or above 31 miles seven times. I’ve been riding a long slow curve down the backside of my training peak for many months. I need a break to reset and start anew. And, that is what I am going to do. Trying to train for the “normal” ultra season, which is Spring and Summer for most of the U.S. and the Texas season, which is Fall and Winter, isn’t ideal. It means I’m always trying to squeeze in a training regime between events or in a taper too often.
So, now, I will reset my training plan and focus on improving my aerobic base in the near term. I will forego running in races for the remainder of the year and, instead, focus my energy on building a solid foundation. It is very difficult to step back like this, but I feel it is necessary in order to ensure I give myself an ideal opportunity to run well this upcoming year. I did my first run this evening at an easy pace. It was difficult to hold myself back and not run a fast pace with my team. But, I know what I am doing now is the best thing for my running. It’s a new beginning and one I am excited about. I consider myself patient and will do my best to stick to my plan. It’s a new way of thinking for me and I’m glad I have support in meeting my goals. And, I remind myself that I am fortunate to even be able to run.
5 comments:
Sometimes we all just need to hit the "reset" button. I wish I had the same discipline - to hold off on racing and focus on building a foundation. Maybe it is time for me to hit "reset".
I think you're very smart to do this ... I had to do the same thing after GTR and it was so worthwhile, both physically and mentally. The best part is rediscovering how good it feels to run "just for fun", with no pressure and no particular goal in mind. Sometimes we get so fixated on training we forget that it was the love of running that brought us to this point in the first place.
definitely doing the right thing and i know how difficult it is. i have been running without a watch for the last 2 months and have had some of my best runs. its all about making adjustments that are right for you.
Larry, man the music in your blog woke me up. Makes me want to put on my gear and run!
It's huge to be able to look at what you're doing, figure out what's wrong and make the necessary changes regardless of how unappealing - smarts vs emotion. You want to keep going hard but deep down you know you shouldn't. Every year I take December off just to give myself the mental and physical break and I'll take breaks/back down during the year when I feel my body wearing down. I can do that now because I've experienced what it's like to truly burn out and over train, ironically the same year I ran the Grand Canyon. I was the last one out because I was draggin my sorry butt all day. This year after TRT100, I was a bit toasted and backed down for 4 weeks and it's helping me with the Fall racing now.
Thanks for stopping by the blog. Personally I think the Vasque certificate is gone:) She used it! I've been hearing good things about the Brook Cascadia's though, that and the La Sportiva Fireblades. I may pick a pair for testing out next year.
Can't wait to take the kids to the Grand Canyon within the next couple of years. I've never been either.
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