Burnt Out

Days until Nike DC: 12

Miles in 2014: 310.4

Ok.  I’ll say it.  Perhaps this spring the mantra of “Run all the Races!” may have come back to bite me in the asphalt.  Since our spring session started mid-January I’ve run 6 half marathons and a 10k.  Apparently that’s a few too many!  I definitely have been feeling it.  My legs are sore, I’m tired, I’m unmotivated, and I’m grouchy.  I’ve missed more week day runs than I’ve gone too.  I stopped cooking healthy meals and returned to easy convenient fixes.  The combination has totally taken a toll on me in terms of training.

Instead of continuing to whine about it, I’m going to try and put a plan into place.  As a teacher, this time of year is exhausting.  I always seem to struggle spring break through the beginning of summer.  This morning though, I got up and went to the gym.  It was not my most inspired workout, but I got up and out of bed on a week day morning which is more than I’ve been able to do for a month now.  Tomorrow my goal is to get up and run.  I made wise choices all day when it came to food and didn’t go off the reservation and eat the easy stuff.  The goal tonight is to cook dinner and get food ready for breakfasts and lunches for the next day or two.

Next up is the need to lose some fat mass and replace it with lean muscle.  The 10 or so pounds that have crept back on do not make it easier to run.  That’s the next focus, I know how to do it, I’ve done it before, it’s not complicated.  So some amended “goals” for the remainder of the year:

1.       Less Races.  That’s right you heard it here first.  I have Nike DC in 2 weeks, and then a fun 12 k, and a 5k the two weekends after that.  After that nothing is on my schedule until the Portland Marathon in October.  Then in true form race junkie I’m already signed up for 5 halves in October and November.  3 of them are non-negotiable but the other two I may decide to bail on.   I made my coach promise to beat me if I sign up for anything else.

2.       Focused training.  For me it’s very easy to mentally crash long before I really physically need to.  This summer session I am going to work on my mental toughness and focus on doing all my training the right way and with the best effort I can give it.  I want to go under or right at 5 hours in Portland in October and I know that I will have to put in the work and make it count in the worst months to train here in Florida.

3.       Quit being lazy… it’s been so easy to sleep in.  Even easier to not make the right foods and get something easy from the store or go out to eat.  Though, I am going to rest just a little in between sessions in May to recuperate from my rough Spring season.  We might even sit at Starbucks, sip a latte, and watch everyone else run by.  But come June it’s back to business!

Hopefully all of this will snap me out of my self-inflicted slump!