I had all of the intentions to run through the week, but then I felt like garbage. On Monday I woke up sore, burned out, and not wanting to run.
So I didn’t. I had the day off, and I decided to make a quick trip up to North Jersey and go hiking outside. It was a beautiful day, and I wanted to be outside, but I didn’t want to run. The hike was challenging but fun and I’m glad I enjoyed that. While yes, running is my “primary workout activity,” it’s not the only thing I enjoy. I enjoy hiking every bit as much as running.
The rest of the week I had no interest to run. Each morning, I woke up and felt blah. By Friday I thought I might go for a run but gave it another day. My college coach once said: days off, saves months off. I do believe if I hadn’t given myself a few days off, nothing would have changed. My mentality is completely different from last week.
On Saturday, I ran a short run and I felt good. It was the first time I actually wanted to get out there. Things are not perfect, and I do feel as though my muscles need a lot of care. I don’t feel bad, or sore, but my legs are tight.
| Monday: | Hiking the Palisades |
| Tuesday; | Rest |
| Wednesday; | Rest |
| Thursday: | Rest |
| Friday: | Rest |
| Saturday; | Easy 30 minutes |
| Sunday: | Easy 30 minutes |
The goal until the April Fools Half marathon is to focus on recovery and rest. I would love to get a workout that makes me confident in running again, but I don’t want to overdo anything. Making it to the start and finish line is the most important to me.
I feel as though I’m progressing in the right direction with running, but I still have longer to go.
Posts of the Week:
Questions for you:
Have you ever felt burned out with running? How do you get through it?
How was your Easter?
I love your approach to training! I think you probably have saved yourself a lot of burnout time by taking this time off.
“Days off, saves months off.” So simple and so true!
Thank you for sharing this honest post, Hollie. I have been extremely burned out from running lately and am taking a step back. It just seems like every time I start to increase mileage/speed/whatever I end up feeling like an injury is coming or just more overall fatigue. Instead I am focusing on other types of exercise for a bit…I think we forget just how much of a workout OTHER things than running can be! (Just like you were referring to hiking). Thanks again!
I appreciate your support and feedback LeAnne! I know I’m prone to sometimes thinking: “running is the only workout” but a few years ago I was walking around NYC and realized how invalid that thought process was. You are definitely being smart and I hope you’re able to get out of that burnout cycle.
I just cross trained last week except two short runs. This week I might run three times but probably mostly cross training. Honestly, running stresses me out right now and I have too much going on with work and life to deal with the stress of running. I can hop on the machines and seriously drown out LIFE for 60 min. and I’d rather to do that. You have a ton of fitness and there are always more races, so no need to push the training unless you really want to. This is a lifelong sport after all 🙂
Yessss #restdaybrags, if you don’t feel right you probably need it. I rested yesterday. I might today. I was feeling bad but also was like lolz you are marathon tapering right now, taking an extra couple of rest days is fine.
I think you are making a smart choice. You aren’t going to gain anything fitness wise between now and your marathon so that rest will definitely help.