So what are some things we can do to keep our bodies active and our minds entertained in the metaphorical winter of training? This is what I will be doing.
1. Move Way Less Everyday
It's important to avoid overdoing it, so I'm able to train hard again and get the most from my future training, but also keep up some level of fitness and activity. For me, in spite of how excited I am about my recent success from the heavy training, not long ago, my mind was pretty sick of it and longing for this break. Even if I think I'm totally stoked and mentally ready to go, the truth is that my mind would like to be enjoying running rather than running hard or maybe not running at all for a little while.
This is my week in training...
Monday: Walked 4.12 in the morning and 1.54 in the afternoon at work
Tuesday: Walked 4.01 in the morning and 2.02 in the afternoon at work
Wednesday: Walked my dogs 4.2 miles
Thursday: My legs felt fine so I tried a run -- 4.1 miles
Friday: Ran 4 miles
Saturday: Ran 3.84 miles on the trail
Sunday: Ran 3 miles
Total:
Ran 14.95
Walked 15.91 (actually more since I forgot to use my watch two or three times)
The walking was so helpful at the beginning of the week and I decided I would only run when I was feeling little to no soreness. I also ran very slowly with each run this week. Next week I plan to continue walking if I feel sore and run short and easy when I feel good.
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| This guy loved the extra walks and it thoroughly calmed his nerves as you can see. |
I've also been thinking a lot about future goals and races and getting very excited. This is another busy year, full of goals and races, but my main number one goal for the year was to get a major BQ in Sugarloaf and now that it's accomplished, it's time to figure out how to direct my future training energy. The races I am most excited about for the rest of this year are, well, all of them! I am registered for 7 more before 2016 draws to a close with everything from a 1 miler to the Detroit Marathon, a six-hour-race and a sprint triathlon in the fall just to try something different. I know I would like to see what I can really do in the half marathon if I give it my all, but I don't know which one from my list to pick as my goal race. Today I rewrote my goal/race/workout board in our basement gym and made up a simple training week just to keep me focused and moving.
3. Adjust Training Plan
Downtime after completing a goal or race is an ideal time to consider what went well and what could have gone better. I'm happy to say I think I've got the pacing and fueling for endurance down, which was my past weakness. I've also worked on my mental game and getting through motivation lows, but I'm also thinking about what I have been missing physically with all of this training, like climbing, kayaking, biking and skating and hoping to fit in some more activities in the meantime. Yes, I would like to PR again in Detroit, but it's not as important as it was to kill it last week, so it's okay to back off the training a little and allow for some fun. I'm trying to figure out what to do for my next marathon training plan and how to fit in more pleasure since I reached the big BQ goal. And, it's almost summer! For now, I think I would like to do the advanced plan I just completed with some twists. Twist number 1 is I need to add a little biking and swimming, since I have a triathlon coming up and twist number 2 is I want a rest day. By rest day, I mean PLAY day, so one day per week to skate or kayak or whatever else I want to do instead of run, bike and/or swim. Twist 3 is adding scheduled rolling, yoga and food prep, so I don't end up neglecting those things more often than not like I did with this last training cycle. There's still plenty of time to figure this out and get it into writing though.
4. Do Other Cool Stuff
Recovery time is a great time to think about those other goals that may have been forgotten while I was busy getting extra sleep, running all morning and weight training in the evenings. I mean, there is more to life than running right? For one thing since my last race, I've written in this blog. I've also completed a Rubik's Cube and I am working on being able to do that without following YouTube videos for every little step. #lifegoals It's also a great time to keep working on my basement art studio and complete a few neglected household and craft projects. I could even work on developing a meditation routine.
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| My home art studio continues to need ceiling tiles and a cover for the fuse box. |
5. Just Relax
Easier said than done. I'm not a fan of this one, but it would have been lovely to go for a massage and take a couple of really gentle restorative yoga classes that are more about lying on the floor than arm balances and warrior poses. Even spending more time sitting on the back patio in the sunshine with the dogs at my feet would be lovely.
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| Home yoga studio where I could be perfecting my corpse pose any day now. |
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