Froggie Ted Distance Runner: Those Bad Running Days

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)