Monday, July 21, 2014

Week 7....Anti-Training

Oof. Where to begin in describing this past week. I knew I wanted to take Monday off, and I knew that next week I wanted a cutback week.  I didn't realize how overwhelmed I felt with many aspects of my life and really needed to step back NOW. This certainly changed how the week went, cutback week came a week early.

Most days I'm a pretty positive person, life really is beautiful chaos. BUT, sometimes it's not beautiful, it's just effing chaos. Those are the times I want to chop my hair off, change my name, and go live in some hut in the mountains of a far off land. Luckily, I'm emotionally attached to my long hair right now, I can't change my name because Phoebe already took "Princess Consuela Banana Hammock", and I don't currently have the financial means to have lifetime supply of Guinness shipped to the mountains. Bummer, right?

So I did what any other person dealing with chaos would do....I deleted my training plan for the week, and decided to go with the flow. Life in the mountains drinking Guinness with a new identity will just have to wait, I've got a marathon to train for and a life to live.

This typically happens at least once in a training cycle where I just need to take everything day to day. Something incredibly freeing about crumpling up the schedule and throwing it over the proverbial fence for a neighbor to deal with. I remember doing this in late fall before CIM, and ended up having an incredibly amazing long training run at the end of the week. While I didn't run a kick ass 23 miler this weekend like then...I did get a lot of non-training things done (cleaning, laundry, organizing, moving the rest of my things, time with friends etc.). I got my act together outside of training, which is a necessity.

Some things about this week....
-I forced myself into bed at old-lady-o'clock almost every night (Friday/Sat were later)

-I tried not running, I tried easy running, I tried tempo run, I tried medium long run, and I tried racing...NONE (not even the rest) felt good. Yeah, one of those weeks.

-I tried increasing my caloric intake to focus on refueling

-I added an Iron supplement to my diet (this can/will take time to take effect)

-I tore my place apart cleaning/organizing/purging (this was much more therapeutic than one would imagine)

-I did a long overdue wine/girls night with my old roommate/long time friend.

-I experienced every single emotion to the extreme...many times.

-I tried Rock Tape for the first time (had used KT in previous years), and I do believe it helps my calf. So I'll have to order a few more colors so I can have some fun racing stripes until this thing is 100% healed.

-I moved the remainder of my things from the house to my apartment.

-I basically shut down marathon training this week....just for the week. Rochester, I'm still coming for you...that's a promise (not to be confused with a threat!).

-I went through times of struggling being alone, and being happy that I'm independent. Quite the conundrum.

Crappy Running Week + Personal life being messy + Cranky Girl stuff + Annoying calf strain + Physically Drained/Exhausted = Ka-effing-boom.
Friday's run with my good friend Joe takes the prize for best run of the week. 5 AM came quick, but it was worth it to get the miles in on the ROC course with good company. I'd say the run made me look a little better than the pre-run zombie on the left. 12+ morning miles later and I finally looked awake (and sweaty).

So yeah, that week. I'm glad it's done. Maybe it was the implosion that needed to happen to help me move forward with training and life. I ran the lowest mileage week since pre-Boston (by a LOT), but after three ~60 mile weeks in a row, it probably wasn't the worst thing. I am still growing as a runner (and person) and I am not a superhuman. Being able to sustain certain miles, and continuing to increase safely takes time. It's hard seeing numbers drop like that, but I know I have a really strong base right now and I can move forward.

I have goals for this coming week, many training related but not directly running related (that makes sense in my head, so just work with me here). I need to adjust my nutrition (I need to stop using busy schedule as an excuse to not cook/prepare majority of my own meals), I need to stretch/roll more, I need to be diligent about getting my strength training in, and I need to continue last weeks bedtimes (on a more consistent basis).

Running can and will feel good again, hopefully soon.

I'm working on finding the good in things, and believe that it can only get better from here.

Onward & upward friends (and back to training!)

9 comments:

  1. Oh man, I hear ya...I did an Olympic-distance race this past weekend and I think my body just said "Enough already!" I laid down on the couch for a minute and basically woke up 12 hours later. We keep thinking we are superhuman and eventually we realize we just aren't...thankfully you realized it before it was too late and you went and hurt yourself or something.
    Now go get it this week!

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  2. I'm glad to see you coming back. I think you made the best choice by having a cutback week last week. It was better mentally, physically and I know you'll come back stronger.

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  3. Good for you, lady! Sometimes those weeks are the most important ones of the training cycle. Your body and your mind know what they need. Hope this coming week is a little easier for you.

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  4. Oh yes, we have all had those weeks! I hope you bounce back quickly and feel like yourself again. You already know this, but one off week won't hurt your training at all. Way to be smart about it!

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  5. Definitely had one of those weeks! You will come back stronger girl! Good for you for listening to what your body and soul needed! Hope the calf feels better soon! I LOVE Rock Tape! It works so much better for me than KT Tape.

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  6. Oh girl I feel for you!! I can totally relate to all of these feelings and emmotions that you have shared! I feel like the last year of my life has been like that!! Sometimes it sucks!! It is totally normal to have these feelings especially after going through what you went through and are going through. And you have a crazy busy schedule with 2 jobs and all... Thats crazy! Take it easy once in awhile, you'll bounce back. I hope you have a great weekend!!

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  7. girl we've all been there before... i remember a couple months ago before i left for colorado i had a workout that was the 'straw that broke the camel's back'.. i ended up super sick, exhausted, and just didn't give a flying F. since then i've learned to take that rest week like you just did, it will be worth it!

    ....although lifetime of guiness supply to the mountains sounds like a plan. let me know when you want to go and i'll join ya ;)

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  8. I have been taking herbal supplements since i was 10 years old so I am pretty much used to swallowing big pills. I never had any complaint about the size or had any difficulty swallowing.

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