Can't stretch my way out of this one.

-

My legs gave out today. They've been giving out slowly over the past week or so, but it reached a tipping point where I recognized if I took one more step I'd be stepping in the wrong direction. The culmination of the miles added up and I couldn't reasonably keep going without doing more damage than good. The weeks and weeks of work would just crumble if I crossed the line today and simply admit my legs couldn't handle the work load. 

I've been working on finding my limits this training cycle. I found another limit today. 

A spotty marathon practice on Thursday, a 16 mile long run followed by being cramped up in a car for 2.5 hours, followed by Monday's easy but hilly run followed by a 2.5 hour car ride back home just didn't leave enough space for good recovery. I've felt this moment coming, but successfully pushed the thought of pressing pause to the back of my mind in lieu of "just get through this next work out and things will be fine". 

Walking was uncomfortable what made me think running at MP-10secs would feel better?

I ran the 2 mile warm up and then tried to hit the gas to get up to pace, but after .2 miles I couldn't get there as I wobbled more like a cowboy than a stallion. I stood in the middle of the street having an internal dialogue about whether I should try and start up again or shuffle home. Did I just have to over come some mental tension? or did the physical discomfort really elevate to aborting the run?

I know I made the right choice to pull the plug, and maybe should have forgone yesterday's run as well, but figure its better to heal up for a day then loose more than that because of my hard headedness. I know I don't have to feel comfortable to run, but my legs have to do better than this.



Popular posts from this blog

There are no shortcuts in running

-
Image
There are no short cuts in running. I can only make a measured amount of progress everyday. The only way to get better is in increments. There are apps for helping make progress, but there's no magic button to go from being able to run a 5k to a marathon. The process itself is straight forward and not necessarily hard to understand, but applying the process takes focus and stamina.  Once these are achieved, it's possible for the process to become at least a little easier because there is clarity about how things get done. The internal dialogue  moves from " if I run today" to " when I run today". This mental status is what endurance is built from.  And endurance builds upon itself. When I finished my first marathon, one of the most enlighten moments came when my brain thought "if you can do that, what else is possible?!" My body changed from a physical processes, but I realized my mindset changed just as much. This empowering mindset not only work...
Read more

Rest is part of the work

-
Image
I made a small change to my usual routine today. It is a rest day so instead of putting on my fitness watch, I put on my "just tell the time" watch. This doesn't seem like much, but throughout the day it reminded me this is a rest day and I should take it seriously. I know it will alter the every day metrics being recorded by the fitness watch, but that's ok. Does everything need to measured all the time? Apparently not because I have no idea what my "body battery" reading is this evening. I just know I feel sorta tired and should go to bed soon. I'm not sure my stress level, but I suspect it was a little elevated getting the kids off to bed. I didn't count my steps wheeling around the grocery store getting charcuterie materials for an exhibition opening tomorrow, but if I needed to guess, that would have been the highest concentration of steps in the day.  The deeper I go into the training cycle the more I will value the weekly rest day on Wednesday...
Read more

Happy New Year! 2024 By the Numbers

-
Image
We're in an age of running where there are so many things that can be measured, tracked, and scrutinized in a way much more easily easily than previous generations. Distances. Times. Paces. I won't pretend to be above all that and just run because I love running so much. I like the numbers too. So here are a few.  Distance:  2,179 miles (about the length of the Appalachian trail) Time: 300 hrs (I was 17mins off after my morning run. I took care of that this afternoon ) Elv. Gain  27,450 ft Races: I ran 5 races including 2 marathons and set PRs for the 5k, 10k, and Marathon distances Bayshore Marathon, Traverse City, MI 3:57:47 Vaulkslauf 10k, Frankenmuth, MI - 3rd in Age Division; 44:06 7 Bridges 7 Brews, Sault St. Marie, MI - 1st in Age, Masters Division Winner 20:32  Detroit Free Press Marathon, Detroit, MI  - 3:21:33 Gobbler Gallop 5k , Saginaw, MI-  20:10 Favorite Runs: Running on vacation was the best....Freeport, IL, HOLY HILL (literally and figurativ...
Read more