Last week on Instagram I posted that I’ve been struggling both mentally and physically with running. In March my goal is to get back to enjoying it. To be honest, I don’t think it’s so much of “I don’t like running,” I think my life is chaotic outside of it. Between my husband’s job as well as my personal life, I’ve had a lot more than usual going on.
Last week, my coach, and I decided to skip a workout this week and focus on mental and physical recovery. The week before, I had a frustrating workout. My tempo was 40 seconds slower than the goal pace, and it felt difficult. This week, we decided to back off, and I needed it.
I’ve also had a lot of personal life that has kept me busy. Since coming back to New Jersey, my personal running has taken the backburner. I’ve had other priorities. I realized that I was burning the candle at both ends and putting far too much pressure on myself! Which is silly since friends
There isn’t much to say about my week. I enjoyed a lot of easy and watchless runs. I ran with my husband for several of them.
On Wednesday evening, I got a two-hour deep tissue massage which helped release knots in my IT band. I don’t have any major issues, but my legs have felt stiff for the last several weeks.
Race: Grilled Cheese 4 Miler 24:13
Last year I ran and won the race. It was the perfect race, and I felt great. This year, going into that, I knew it wouldn’t be as great. My body was still recovering from my deep tissue massage, I didn’t feel “great”, and it was 15 degrees. It’s always hard to enter a perfect race knowing you did well the previous year.
Even though it was significantly colder and my body felt as though it was still recovering, I was able to run 24:13 which I’m happy with. I negative split the entire race and felt decent.
Plans for Next Week:
I plan to continue to relax and focus on myself. With Shamrock in two weeks, I want to relax and regroup now versus feeling stale at the race. Shamrock isn’t a “goal race” for me, but granted the weather isn’t like last year, I would like to see where my fitness is.
Posts from the week:
February Training Log
Thoughts While Working at a Running Store
Questions for you:
How do you regroup and refocus when things feel stale?
What was your best workout last week?
I can relate to this and yet when things feel stale around here sometimes there’s no avoiding it. I just tried to move things around, change as much as I can – – even if I’m a little bit trapped within a clearly marked box.
I think this happens to everyone especially since you have SO much exciting stuff going on. I think what you need is a super fun Shamrock weekend 😉
I feel like stale training seems to be the theme for this winter. I do find it nice when the reason my training is taking a backseat is because I have a lot of good things happening in my life. Hope to see you at Shamrock!
I think you’re doing all the right things. As with life, running ebbs and flows and, when the tough times come I usually back off and take a break. You body and mind need some regrouping and it sounds like that is exactly what you’re doing. Maybe go for a swim or do something completely different from running for exercise for a few days… Absence makes the heart grow fonder 🙂
I have also been thinking about this. I recently got a massage which helped to release a lot of tension but think I need to do a bit more self care before Boston. I hope that this week is a bit better!
Sometimes you have to give yourself grace and skip a workout if you need it or even a day of running if you need it. You’ve had a lot going on lately with running, family, and life so it is totally understandable. Congrats on the grilled cheese and soup run and I hope you have a great week!
Last time I felt “off” from running was this time last year which resulted in me drinking beer at mile 10 of my goal half marathon and then taking six months off from any running. It’s my goal to never get to that place again. I hope taking some recovery time helps you be more normal again. I know once your plateau breaks, you’ll be making crazy PRs!
Listen to those who tell us “Running isn’t who we are, it’s what we do.” I first heard this from someone in Va Beach who holds Virginia state running records, and that gave the saying even more significance. Some of us run only occasionally, some for optimal fitness, some for the joy of completing a goal race, and some for pushing our limits and testing our breaking points. But none of us do this professionally; we run as a secondary activity in our lives. And when the strain of life gets to be a bit too much, it’s gets hard to handle the stress of goal-oriented running/training on top of that. When the runs feel stale or they take more effort than they should, I try to remember that I don’t do this for the pressure. I do this to cope, to blow off steam, or just add my own version of pleasure to a tough day. Hang in there!
Running ebbs and flows, and there’s no doubt you’ll work through what you’re experiencing now. It’s all part of the process–hang in there.