I was back on the trails yesterday. I put in 8.25 miles in the late afternoon. My data is suspect - I forgot to pause my Garmin at a long traffic light, so I have a 12:01 mile contributing to my overall 10:21 pace. At least the heart rate was right - 80% overall for the run. And yes - I know I can set the autopause on my Garmin. The problem is a lot of times when I wait for a traffic light I'm not always still. I will walk around in circles, or move over to a rock or bench and take a load off my feet. I've gotten in the habit of reaching down and pausing my Garmin - I just forgot to do it at one stop yesterday.
Back to the title. When I got home last night, my legs and hips were sore and exhausted. This morning they are wiped out. Not sore like I need new shoes. But sore like I just climbed to the top of a 100 story building. The run was not tough. I took a couple days off, so I should be rested. I've been eating like there's no tomorrow, so I don't think it's a fueling problem.
So, I went back through my posts for the past couple of weeks and have noticed a disturbing trend - difficulty getting motivated (especially for longer runs), easy workouts becoming hard, paces slowing, physical exhaustion. Then to cap it all, I couldn't sleep last night. At all. Fitful naps here and there. Lots of muscle soreness. Ms. V - I think you got it right. Yeah - burnout. These are many of the classic signs. I can't let this happen now. I only have six more weeks! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! I need to deal with this and deal with it now.
I'm going to get mentally tougher. I'm also going to ease up on pace the next couple of weeks. Last thing I want to avoid is injury. It would be a real shame to get his close to just end up injured. My Mt. Whitney trip will be happening next weekend - that should provide a little variety to the drudgery. It really is downhill from here!
I hope that this burn out doesnt last long and you can get back into the groove before the marathon! Don't want you to get injured!
ReplyDeleteBelated congrats on your 10k. So close to a PB!
ReplyDeleteMaybe just a low mileage/rest week is all it will take to get back into the groove. Your body might just need a little rest, then you will be primed for a couple weeks of good training before your marathon.
Hope it's not burnout! Perhaps try to get some extra rest?
ReplyDeleteMost trainers will tell you can take 5-7 days off without any noticeable change in muscle and cardio development. 6 weeks is plenty of time, especially since this is not your first marathon and you are doing 20 milers at this point. So, maybe you should listen to your body and take a break. Recovery (days of rest) is just as important as any hill or long training run.
ReplyDeleteKeep kickin'!
I just wanted to offer up my support and encouragement. You've been working so hard, I know you can do it!
ReplyDeleteIn answer to your question "How is Maryland"...
ReplyDeleteNot as good at the OC. I want to go home!
I am sure you can do it. Just think of the race and the coming couple of weeks will be "easy" enough.
ReplyDeleteMake sure that you take your rest and eat healthy stuff and you will do fine.
Additionally, you will have the support of your readers.
All the best
Oh no! Do whatever you need to do to get back into it mentally. You're almost there! Also, I do NOT trust the auto pause feature. Sometimes when it's cloudy or I run in heavy tree areas my pace will say I'm at 12-13 mm and auto pause on me. My overall pace is right, but it'll stop and it's REALLY annoying.
ReplyDeleteHi Glenn!
ReplyDeleteYes- it does sound like your at that 'fun' (sarcasm with a smile!) place of being so close to your goal and yet...ENOUGH already!!
Now you know that I'm barely doing 1/4 of what you are doing as I am in the process of training for my triathlon but I still want to share this with you.
I went out for a bike ride two days ago and had a goal of ten miles. I started too late. It was nearing noon and that is HOT in Florida. (sometimes I'm stuck on stupid!) Anyway- I was tired, and hot and had barely slept the night before so by mile six I was ready to say "that's it!" And I almost did because physically I really felt 'that's IT!'.
But mentally out of no where something rose up inside of me and I challenged myself. I said "hey- you set out to do ten miles and by golly girl you are going to do ten miles on the bike today. Because if your mindset now is to do less, or give up during training then it will be your mindset during the race itself. So set the stage now for the right mindset. And that is going to be- THE GOAL."
Those last four miles sucked but I knew mentally that if I just stuck with it even though I thought I was gonna have a heat stroke that I'd always have that in the back of my mind on race day when I might be so wiped out I'd be tempted to quit.
So you have to be a bad ass and kick the enemy "burnout" in the butt and send him flying. Because you ARE going to run that race. You have worked for it and you are going to be AMAZING on race day! Christine
Glenn- You're timing for this post is impecable! A good week of rest does wonders-- at least for me. I am currently taking a break from my training and listen to this!
ReplyDeleteFirst, When I say break-- I still run, just not as much or as hard as in training. I was convinced all the rest would kill the pace I worked so hard to achieve-- For me, it was the total opposite. Yesterday I ran my BEST 4 miler ever--I swear I was like lightning-- averaging 6:40/mile... I felt great and really suprised myself.
Trust me brother-- rest is good-- don't stop moving-- but it's ok to dial it back a notch and not move as fast or as hard.
Granted, we're all engineered differently but thought I would share that.
i have been eating tons more food than normal too! ahh! you've infected me!!! :)
ReplyDeleteit's a good thing you have your training records and blog to look back and assess the big picture. keep on running the easy days easy, even slowing down if you need to so that you can give 100% on the workout/long run days. maybe treat yourself to a massage??