What Happened?
I'll admit, I'm a bit torn about what I should do next. This week has been a struggle right from the start. On Monday, despite having the day off from work for Labor Day, was just a complete waste of a day as far as running was concerned. My wife was gone for most of the day at an art fair, and mercifully, I got to stay home with the kids. As the day wore on, a general weariness just continued to overtake my body and by the time my wife got home, I was in no mood for a run or much of anything, so I took the day off.
On Tuesday, I tried to do my regular 11 mile run with 8 miles at marathon pace, but quit after a mile and half at pace. I was having a real hard time keeping my breathing under control and was working entirely too hard to maintain even a 6 min pace. Yesterday I started to feel a little better, but decided not to push it and did two easy runs of 8 and 7 miles. Finally today, I did a 9 mile run in the morning with 4 miles at marathon pace of 5:53. It felt OK, but again, not as easy as it should have. The afternoon run of 7 miles was about as good as I've felt in some time.
At this point, I'm not sure what the problem is. I had a good week of training last week, so I'm not sure where this inability to run at a sub 6 pace really came from. I'm hoping it just has to do with the heat that has been back this week. To top things off, I have a 5 man relay race that I'm running on Saturday that usually leaves me pretty wiped out for a few days afterwards. With only 4 weeks until the marathon, I really can't afford to have 2 off weeks in a row, so I'm hoping that this general fatigue will pass as quickly as it arrived. At this point, I don't think I'm going to back off the miles too much. Hopefully, this week of shorter runs will allow me to bounce back quickly. However, if things continue like they have for the past few days, I may have no choice but to back off even more.
posted by Greg @ 12:19 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
* What Happened?* Surviving* It's a Struggle* Meltdown* Oh, the pain
These are the titles of some of your recent posts. It seems that, for whatever reason, you are right at the edge of the amount of training your body can absorb. The relay is going to beat you up, so perhaps just an easy one tomorrow, then easy for two or three days after the race?
I've been guilty of pushing myself a bit too hard, and it's a frustrating thing (especially if like me you've pushed yourself this hard before).
I think in this last month it's more about cultivating and refining the form you have, rather than trying to pack in more gains. My advice is to listen to the body and to take the rest when you need it. Good luck man, a month is a long time.
I agree with Mike on listening to the body. Looking back, you had 3 good weeks of training (100+ miles) with lots of marathon pace. The fatigue could be a sign to have a back-off week. I'm sure you'll feel refreshing after that.
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