Downtime…

So it has been almost three weeks since the Chicago Marathon has passed. I know that I meant to recap the entire weekend (and I promise to try and revisit it later), but if I don’t get back to current events I know that I will slack off and forget to post at all.

So what have I been up to since exceeding my expectations back in the Windy City? A lot of relaxing, a lot of school work, and a little bit of running. I have been guilty in the past of jumping from one training cycle to the next, without ever taking enough of a break in between. My usual recovery from a marathon was two days off and then right back at it. This is of course the dumbest plan ever and I believe is what led to me having a lot of stupid injury issues that either took forever to heal up, or become major issues that led to a lot of time off. After Chicago I had already decided that after such an intense short training cycle I was going to take a complete week of absolutely zero running before trying to come back. Now, after Chicago although I felt amazing with no aches or pains (I have never finished a marathon feeling so good before), I decided that a week of complete rest was even more deserved to reward my body for out preforming what I think I was even in shape for. It is really hard to go from 50+ miles a week to zero but I knew that I would be better for it in the long run and so I sucked it up and enjoyed being a normal person for a week.

So what did I do with my free time? Mostly slept. It took me a few days of some solid 9+ hour nights to feel like my body was recovered. Although I didn’t have any injury issues my body was Le Tired and wanted to nap allll the times. Besides sleeping I was also focused on eating what ever I wanted and what my body was craving. For whatever reason, all I wanted was healthy veggies and fruit but I made sure to continue to get some solid protein and carbs to restore what was lost. Then I focused on the things that I was missing up on while running so fucking much. I went out with friends, I did a lot of school work to get ahead, I read, I actually watched some tv, I even finally finished moving and unpacking my stuff. When I felt like my legs needed a little motion to get the blood flowing, I got back on my lonely bike for some nice rides. I did yoga to help stretch out an knots and bring some calm back after such a hectic but fun trip. Basically I just enjoyed life and took a lot of “me time”.

The one thing I made sure not to focus on was any sort of returning to run schedule or the thought of any goal races to come. It is always a little depressing once a big race is over and I can sort of rush to work towards something else to relive the excitement. This time I knew that I needed to give it time and really decide what I want to do. The thought of jumping back into marathon training was pretty unappealing and I didn’t need to. I don’t have any desire to try and beat my time and go for a faster spring marathon (I am quite content to sit on a 3:26) and so I am not planing on going for that any time soon. When I returned to any mileage (and I kept it super low the first few days) it was all easy miles without looking at the watch and just going my feel. Luckily the weather as been AH-MAZ-ING so running again instead of being a chore has been a blast. This is a feeling that you tend to lose after weeks and weeks of miles that have to get done.

So what now? Well now that I am back to a sort-of-running schedule I have a couple ideas on the horizon. I didn’t know if I would continue the blog now that Chicago is over, but I have found it fun and helpful to keeping track of just how my training is going. So I think I will continue to recap my weekly training as well as just spewing my random thoughts. Because lets face it: people get really sick of hearing me talk about running. For now I will enjoy my easy runs and in a couple days really decide where I am going from here!

Training log: Week 7

I will forever be the worst at recapping on any sort of schedule (you would think Sunday nights/Mondays would be the obvious time to actually write these) but this week I had an excuse besides my state of laziness. It was Finals week for my summer classes and I was spending time studying (eh mildly) and then celebrating my new found freedom that normal people have been enjoying for the past 10 or so weeks.

I also have to admit that writing this recap is about as easy as writing the Week 4 recap in that I didn’t run a single mile all week. My dodgy ankle was extremely angry after a long run the past Sunday and I knew running wasn’t a thing that was going to happen. This entire training cycle has been one issue after another and instead of fighting it, trying to push through it, etc (the typical response I have) I just decided to fuck it and take another rest week. At this point most of my goals have been thrown out the window, so why beat myself up further?

With that charming attitude I decided to focus on cross-training/ strength training, and yoga. Also just enjoying all the normal things life that can be hard to fit in when running 50 miles a week. I think that with the majority of runners (myself included) one can get so wrapped up in training and racing that when faced with downtown, you sort of lose your identity. Focusing on being hurt and if the worry of whether or not I was facing a serious issue wasn’t going to help me feel any better. Instead I like to use my downtime as an opportunity to be a normal person that doesn’t spend all her time sweating it out on the trail and pounding the pavement. It restores some mental clarity and helps eliminate the depression and worry that goes hand in hand with injury. I am a runner, but I am also a lot of other things and resting and not running doesn’t change that. So instead of focusing on what I couldn’t do, I focused on what I could.

So in a week that included zero running, I instead spent loads of time with friends that I don’t get to see a lot. This included a makeover/facial session, a night with movies and sushi, an outdoor concert, and just the ability to hang out and talk. I didn’t have to worry about staying out too late and missing my morning run, or working plans around my running schedule. It was glorious and just what I needed. I was also able to spend plenty of time focusing on my finals and school work to end the semester with A’s all around.

ALL MINE. I don’t share well…

I also decided to focus more on cleaning up some bad habits I have picked up in my diet, and clean things up a bit. This meant I had plenty of time to do some baking (of the best recipe for gluten-free muffins I have ever made) and meal prep. I have meant to write an post dealing with my health/food related issues (allergies ahoy!), mostly because I feel like it is a massive hindrance to my running and training trying to get what my body needs from the rather complicated issues I deal with. I think I am finally figuring out how to unlock this puzzle and get my body fueled correctly in order to prevent the nutritional deficiencies I have been facing lately.

All in all, although this wasn’t a week on any sort of actual “training”, I know that it is just what I needed to get my self back on track and tackle the journey back to where I want to be. My attitude towards Chicago hasn’t changed at all, I want to have fun and enjoy myself and this will happen no matter how awkwardly I get there.

The Comeback Kid Returns

I have found that with I guess you could consider my “running career”, I have had to let go of always having a concrete plan of training. Yet again, I was deep in training for my goal race, my BQ qualifying goal race, only to have my training get derailed right when it seemed to be going perfectly. It wasn’t a stress fracture this time, and the time I had to take off was only about a month, but it through my training off so much that I wouldn’t have been able to get any 20+ mile runs before my marathon/ So I did the only logical thing. I gave up and accepted it. I think that missing my goal race last fall sort of helped me handle this a little better, because although it was a bitter pill to swallow I knew that it was the correct decision and life would go on.

In the time since, I decided to focus on reworking my training plans and the whole idea I have had this far of what goes into distance running. I know that I have been extremely lucky because I am mostly going by trial and lots and lots of errors. In a perfect world I would hire a coach and be told exactly what to do x,y, and z ways so that I could improve and remain healthy. The world is faaar from fucking perfect and so I have myself and whatever information I glean from the internets, friends, an various eves-dropping opportunities I find.

So where am I now? I am returning back to form slowly but surely. I am trying to focus on speed work while taking proper easy days and keeping my paces safe. Running slow and easy is something I never bothered with before and the opportunity to slow the pace and recover while getting back to just enjoying running is a very healing thing for me. I am also making sure to do those things that one should always be doing but I didn’t bother because I am too lazy stupid busy tired OKAY THE WORST.

I don’t know where this has me at now training wise. I feel strong in my speed work and strong on my long runs. I don’t know what my race pace will be like but I have a half that I am aiming a PR at in the beginning of June. If things seem promising after that, I plan to continue to use this new training strategy into my fall marathon training. I don’t know what is going to happen but I am finally starting to feel like maybe I am figuring out how to finally unlock my actual potential and learn how to really become a proper runner.

Spring Semester aka what happened to all my free time.

At the start of every semester there is always a huge adjustment to figuring out how life, training, and work, is all going to fit into place. With the start of the spring semester what has obviously suffered the most is my free time to spend on here, but I promise to try and delegate a little of effort into maintaining things. It’s just if I have to decide between rambling here and getting a calculus assignment done… well I am going to be an adult and suck it up.

This semester I only have five classes but with one having a lab attached it is a bit of a heavy load. Luckily I am pretty gifted at being able to weed out what classes are going to take the most work and which I can pretty much swing by with the least amount of effort. For some reason I am gifted with the ability to easily remember information and I take more notes than is probably necessary. It’s pretty much my only way of staying awake in class since marathon training plus working nights means I am in a constant state of the tireds.

As far as running is going things seem to be going well… *knocks on all the wood in the near vicinity.* I have upped my mileage more than I ever have at this point in training and I am trying to focus on taking more days of easy runs in between quality pace runs. So far it seems to be working and I feel pretty strong and healthy. I have finally started to feel like my injury is behind me and I am at the point I was before I was injured. The only difference is mentally I feel much stronger and more focused. I think the one thing I can take away from being out for so long is that I am way more motivated and competitive than before. I am enjoying this new vibe but also trying to keep it under control and not risk going too crazy and re-injuring myself. I did a really quality confidence boosting long run of 17 miles last weekend which was full of hills and some trails and kept a pace I never would have thought possible a couple months ago. It hit at the perfect time in training as well because this weekend I am running a trail race of 13 miles. I have never run a proper trail race before so my only two goals are: 1) Not to break my ankle or fall down (too many times), and 2) Not to get lost in what looks like a twisty-turny course. Hopefully there will be plenty of stewards to point the way because memorizing directions and courses are a definite weak point for me. I have no idea what to expect my pace to be like since having never run the trails I have no idea how technical they might be. Oh well! Here is to new adventures and hopefully making it out of the woods alive.

So hopefully I will have something interesting and meaningful to post about that new adventure as well as the free time from school work to do it. If only my professors would take sympathy on my poor, tired, marathon running soul…