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Sunday, April 28, 2013

I'm Done with Race Training (for a while)

I am writing this from the comfort of sweats in my apartment. This morning seems like it was a week ago now. Except, if I get up to refill my water bottle, I know my calves and hamstrings will remind me that yes, in fact, I ran my fourth half-marathon this morning.

I will be posting a full recap of the inaugural Nike Women's Half Marathon DC, but I'm exhausted and want to do a "feelings" post, for lack of a better word. I will share more about the overall experience, I promise! It was a great time.


I raced hard and faced some of the same issues I've had over the past few months: tight calves and some right hamstring and kneecap pain. But more than that, I felt exhausted. My heart wasn't in it. So often I thought to myself, "I wish I could just stop. I wish I weren't doing this."

I kept trying to reframe and push myself, but somehow my legs wouldn't move faster. I would will them to turn over more quickly, and think they had, yet the numbers on my Garmin wouldn't budge. At one point, I actually thought, "I wish the pain in my knee would get worse so I could have a reason to go to the medic's tent and stop." Why was my brain going there??

I finished with 2:01:51. Instead of being heartbroken at missing sub-2, I just felt relieved to be done.

On our ride back from DC, Julianne said she thought you needed three things to successfully run a race: body, mind, and heart. And without all three, you couldn't meet your full potential. As much as my body seemed to give me problems today, I can't honestly say my mind and heart were fighting.

I don't want to be on a long distance race course for a while.

I'm not sure why, but I think I'm mentally and physically "over" training. I started training in August 2012 for Grete's Great Gallop, my first half-marathon. I signed up for the Last Chance December 31 Half-Marathon soon after, so I had a week or two off before I dived into training again.

I hurt myself in that race, so I took a couple weeks off, but was eager to rededicate myself for the NYC Half in mid-March. Where I missed my sub-2 goal by 1 second, coming in at 2:00:00.

I'd had various leg pains prior to the NYC Half and they continued after, on top of me feeling various kinds of sick. I ran the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler as a long run because I'd been sick, and it felt like a slog the whole way.

After training almost non-stop since last August, I think my body is sending me a signal. Well, I think my body has been sending me a signal since before the NYC Half, but my mind has officially caught up.

Today told me loud and clear that, for now, my body, my heart and my mind want a break from training. I am still eager to run the Chicago Marathon, for which I'll start training in June. For the next month, though, there will be no training. There will be workouts and runs and yoga, but no specific training plans.

Phew, that feels really good to write.

But hey, at least I got a Tiffany's necklace from a guy in a tux and red sunglasses, right?


So... have you ever burnt yourself out on training?

13 comments:

  1. Even though the race proved to be a mental challenge, I'm so proud of you for pushing and finishing; that says so much about your drive and perseverance. Each runner knows their body better than everyone else, so it sounds like you're making the smart and right choice to take some time off. Because you've been training since August (uh, WOW!), you definitely deserve (and need!) a break from structured workouts.

    Your experience at the Nike Half sounds exactly like mine from a local half I did this past summer. Cardio- and fitness-wise, I was totally prepared to run 13.1 miles, but mentally, I just wasn't there. I finished the race, and since, I've had zero desire to hop back on the long-course wagon, so I totally get what you're feeling.

    I'm texting you later today so we can plan a TJ's haul. I also absolutely *need* to get a pedircure today or tomorrow--just sayin'. :)

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    1. Of course we already talked about this yesterday, but thank you again for all your support :)

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  2. I totally understand. It's hard to dedicate every weekend to long runs. I also just really love my studio classes and miss them when I am training. But I am excited to hear you NIke Women's Half recap!

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    1. Yes, I miss the studio classes a lot!! It'll be fun to dedicate myself to them in May :)

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  3. You're allowed to take a break! It's good for you if your heart isn't totally in it. And you'll come back stronger than ever!

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    1. I sure hope so! It's been frustrating to train so hard and feel like each race day I can't live up to the potential I've seen in training. Hoping that will change after a break :)

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  4. I've read that it's really good to have a solid *off-season* where you really just stop the training for awhile. Run for fun, or don't run at all. But you'll return to training (for the Chi Marathon with a healed body, healed mind, and healed heart. You'll probably be EAGER to run and race again. War better way to go into marathon training?

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    1. That's what I'm hoping! May will also be a good off-season since I have a lot happening this month.

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  5. I think that is a great idea. Step away, run for FUN. Run when you want. Marathon training is a major undertaking and you need your heart and head in it, because it gets tough!

    I toss with it now if I am burnt out but what it comes down to is I genuinely look forward to it (and I've been in training mode consistently since fall 2010). Even after some of my crap races lately within an hour I am forgetting it and wanting to tackle another run. That being said after my insanity that is May racing: marathon, 10K, half marathon, 50K - I plan to do unstructured running for a month before resuming with gusto plans to sub 4 marathon this fall.

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    1. See, as long as you are genuinely looking forward to your workouts and your races, it makes perfect sense to me to keep going. I don't think I realized quite how burnt out I was until Sunday. I hope your crazy month of May goes well!

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  6. Slow clap! This is great; I'm glad you can recognize how you're feeling and step back when you want. It's easy to get trapped by how you think you "should" be feeling. I'm thinking of doing something like this over the summer (before marathon training starts), because honestly, in the summer I'd pick riding my bike over running any day.

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    1. Yes, I definitely have had a lot of the "should" versus "actual" feelings. Thanks so much for the support :) It can feel really shameful not to be "rah rah rah" 100% of the time, but I know I need a break after training for 9 months straight!

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  7. I give you so much credit for listening to your body, its not easy to do but so necessary. Plus, your heart really has to be into running.. you'll find the motivation soon I know it! Either way, congrats on your finish time you did fantastic.

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