Did you ever head out for a run with the intent to go long or complete
a speed work session and find that you simply can't do it? How frustrated did you feel when you realized
that no matter how hard you tried you just couldn't muster up the strength to
run well? Pretty frustrated I would
say. I have experienced this many times
during my training and even during races that I know I had prepared adequately for
to perform at my peak.
Like me, I am sure that you too have had a run where you just didn't feel
like yourself. When this happens to me,
I almost always feel like I am just plodding along and going through the
motions. I tend to look at my watch more
often counting down the seconds until the run is over. It is tough when you are out there on the road
trying to just get through a run. For me
it is truly disappointing when I have a run like that. It made me wonder why does this happen?
It could be for any number of reasons.
Is it from overtraining? Did I eat and hydrate properly during the week?
Was I getting enough sleep? Or am I simply bored with my routes or training
routine? My first thought is always that I have been overtraining. I
stick to my routine religiously which may be hurting my training in the
long run. In the past, I always felt
that if I didn't get in my run I was failing in some way. What I
now know is that without adequate rest and recovery, my training routine will
backfire and actually decrease my performances potentially leading to injury.
Some common symptoms of overtraining are washed-out feelings, fatigue,
drained or lack of energy. You may also
feel mild leg soreness, general aches and pains in your muscles and
joints. You may suffer from insomnia,
headaches or become moody and irritable.
Or worst of all you start to lose your enthusiasm for the sport. And, of course, you will see increased
incidence of injuries both minor and major.
As I write these symptoms, I can see that I have suffered from several
of these over my months of training. It
must mean I have been overtraining and need to rest. The body repairs and strengthens itself in
the time between workouts and I need to rest properly to maintain my level of
fitness.
As I think about my diet over the past few weeks, I have to admit that
it has not been as healthful as it should be.
Some of it is caused by the fact that I travel for my job. It is difficult to stay on a strict diet when
you are on the road. I am not always in
control of the choice of where to eat.
That, of course, is a bit of an excuse as you can always find items on
any menu that are better for you. When I
am able to make the right choices, I normally will have a better training run
the next day than when I make poor choices.
What I have learned is that if I properly fuel each day my runs will go
as planned. It should be obvious to any
runner that foods with a lot of fat like fried foods, cheese, hamburgers, or
bacon are not a good choice. The reason
is that they digest slowly and will feel like they're just sitting in your
stomach. In addition, I have found that
high fiber foods will cause me gastrointestinal distress which is undesirable. Instead
of these foods, I try to eat more refined carbs like regular pasta, white rice,
and plain bagels. I also focus on eating
more low-fiber fruits and veggies. I
find that these are much easier on my stomach.
I know that lack of sleep has a definite effect on my running
performance. Everyone has different
sleep requirements and stress can play a part in how much sleep a person needs.
What I know is that as I increase my
training load, I need more sleep.
Without proper sleep, my body cannot recover sufficiently. When training for a marathon, I require more
sleep than when I am just running to maintain my fitness level. When I
am rested, I feel stronger and have no problems finishing my training runs.
What I try to do each morning when I wake up to head out for my
training runs, is to review in my head what time I went to bed and calculate
how long I slept. In addition, I try to
remember if my sleep was broken, how quickly I fell asleep, and finally how
refreshed I feel. This usually gives me
an idea of how hard or easy my training run will be on that day. I know that good quality sleep will support
my running during my normal training regimen.
I also know that a sleepless night before race doesn't mean that I lower
my chances of a good race or a PR.
Instead, I do my best to get several good nights of sleep in the days
leading up to the race because I know that I will struggle to sleep well the
night before the race.
Finally, I have found that when I follow the same routes all the time I
become bored and slack off. I don't push
myself as hard as I should. I have also
read that running the same route all the time can actually cause imbalances in
your body. These imbalances can lead to
injuries and take you off the road. The
imbalance is cause by the fact that you are training your body to react to that
route's particular uneven surface. So to
keep in interesting, I try to switch up my running routes daily both route and
distance.
The easiest way I have found that changes my routine is to simply run
one of my favorite routes in the opposite direction. However, I have found that
it is actually better to have a whole bunch of different routes to choose from
in my area. I run on roads, sidewalks,
trails and bike paths. This allows me to
train my body to deal with any type of conditions. Some days I will run a steep hilly route or a
mix of trail and road on the same run. I
have found that by incorporating new routes into my training regimen that I am
better prepared both physically and mentally for race day.
What we runners need to understand is that there will be days when things
don't go as planned. It could be a
training run that just blows up and you walk more than you run. Or it could be a bad race day. When I first started running and racing, I
was loving it because with each run and race I was building my skills and
confidence as a runner. It was so
exciting to set PRs on a regular basis. Then
there were those times when I had a bad training run or race. It could have been for any number of reasons
like less than ideal weather conditions (Boston Marathon 2012) or I wasn't
feeling great or an injury occurred (Boston 2014) or to be honest with myself I simply didn't do
the proper training all of which resulted in disappointing finishes.
How should you react to a poor performance? The good news is that it is just a moment in
time. Having a bad training run or race
has helped me better appreciate those really big PR days (Boston 2009 and The
Phoenix Half Marathon 2014). I was so
pumped up at the finish line of those two races. During those races I was feeling invincible and loved every
minute of the race. So my advice is to
chalk up that bad day to experience. Get
out there the next day and run again knowing that not every day will be a great
run or race. And whatever you do, don't
let one bad run undermine all of your hard work in training. Just stick to it because I know that consistency
in the end will yield positive results.
Sept. 29 – 6.40 miles (1:01:26, 9:36 pace)
Sept. 30 – 6.10 miles (57:37, 9:27 pace)
Oct. 1 – 5.10 miles (48:45, 9:31 pace)
Oct. 5 – 7.10 miles (1:06:51, 9:25 pace)
Oct. 6 – 5.20 miles (49:01, 9:26 pace)
Oct. 7 – 6.20 miles (57:11, 9:13 pace)
Oct. 9 – 6.20 miles (58:50, 9:29 pace)
Oct. 10 – 6.10 miles (58:58, 9:40 pace)
Oct. 11 – 7.00 miles (1:07:03, 9:35 pace)
Oct. 12 – 6.10 miles (58:29, 9:35 pace)
Oct. 13 – 6.10 miles (58:34, 9:36 pace)
Oct. 14 – 6.20 miles (57:28, 9:16 pace)
Oct. 16 – 3.20 miles (27:35, 8:37 pace)
Oct. 17 – 6.10 miles (58:40, 9:37 pace)
Oct. 18 – 10.10 miles (1:33:35, 9:16 pace)
Oct. 19 – 6.10 miles (58:30, 9:35 pace)
Total Miles: 99.3 miles
2014 Total Miles: 1,631.2 miles
