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Life has a funny way of getting in the way...of running. Sick kid, graduate work, parent-teacher conferences, out of town travel…’rolling with it’ was the only way to maintain my sanity over the last few weeks. At first, it seemed like a burdensome task...rolling with it. I didn’t want to roll with anything...I wanted to run!
My mileage peaked at an all time high of 42 miles three weeks ago, accompanied by an achy left knee and twinges in my right shin. I intentionally eased up on my mileage the following week to a much more manageable 28 miles, rationalizing that there was no reason to be logging marathon mileage before I even begin training for that milestone. After a brief recovery week, my plan was to keep weekly mileage between 30 and 36 miles a week, except for the week I taper for the Fifth Third River Bank Run 25K.
While away on a work conference, I reconnected with a colleague from my middle school teaching days. She is one of the track coaches in my district and I was offering to run with the distance group a few times, maybe evening doing some speed drills. “I don’t know how you do it. How do you run, juggle work and family and graduate classes? Where do you find the time?” she asked, shaking her head. I began to think perhaps life wasn't getting in the way of my running. Perhaps I was getting my own way...of my crazy, hectic life. I took this as one of many recent signs to slow down and reevaluate.
In that crazy, hectic life, I am faced with the daunting task of finding time for all my runs. During this weekly Sunday night ritual, I am analyzing my training plan, our family calendar, and my lesson planner and writing it down in my training journal. While this is not a exactly stressful, being the Type A personality I am, feel obligated to complete each and every workout. Missing a run make me feel like a slacker...even if it was for a highly legitimate reason such as work obligations or a sick child. Inevitably, I consult all of my planning tools, searching for a time to ‘make up’ that run.
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| A peek at my Believe training journal |
What I should have been doing was cutting myself (and my training) some much needed slack. Why was I so worried about making up a run? Missing a workout or even two at this point in my training is not a dealbreaker for reaching my goals. If anything, I am dancing along the delicate line of overtraining...something that I sincerely want to avoid again. I am not going to lose any of my fitness by missing a run. As long as I adjust my training to focus on the quality of my key workouts, the overall quantity of mileage doesn’t need to be a stressor at this point. (“Stop being such a worrier, Courtney!”) I am more than trained for my first big races this spring. If anything, I need to focus on staying healthy and not training harder.
What did I do to celebrate this little epiphany? I went for a run...a fun, slow shakeout run where I allowed myself to enjoy the sunshine, melting snow, and time to have fun at the beach...in March! I even spent time taking some running selfies on the remaining ice along Lake Michigan.
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