At the end of last week id planned to continue to increase my volume, and aim to reach 11hrs at a training pace. However by Wednesday it was pretty clear to me that I was pushing too hard, and needed some rest. So i decided to swap thursdays planned 2hr stead Aerobic run for a 30min easy jog. I also took Sunday as a full rest day, partly because of the need for rest, partly because i decided to spend the time with my kids instead.
Its important to listen to your body when its getting tired. Ignoring it and pushing on adhering strictly to the plan for the sake of the plan is a fools game, and eventually leads to disaster through either injury or overtraining. On Wednesday I looked at the feeling notes id given my runs, with the exception of mondays 'nightlife run' Id not really been enjoying things since Sunday. My legs were feeling heavy, and id picked up a little niggle in on my right backside/hip. I decide it was wiser to pull back a little.
I guess its not really surprising. My first week was a substantial increase in volume compared to the weeks before that when i was taking a training break, and then last week I increased the volume again.
My weight hasnt changed radically... partly through my own fault as i subcombed to the seductions of another Marzipan stollen. However the festive season with its butter cookies, mulled wine, and abundance of chocolate surely bears the lions share of the blame.... surely.
Ive been tossing around shoe choices for boston, Id like to decide early so that i can also do plenty of training in the raceday shoe.
Next week I think i should try and repeat the volume from week 2 perhapes with a slightly longer long run on the weekend, although Im not sure that christmas will allow that.
Oh man, I am an expert at not listening to my body and getting stuck on a plan. You're totally right. It never ends well. Things have gone much better lately by paying attention to what my body is saying.
ReplyDeleteI'm having the same problem....I can't pass up the cookies and cake sitting in the break room at work.
Hi Corey,
ReplyDeleteThe plan should be your Advisor, but your feeling must be king.
I run a lot of millage, so im used to my legs feeling tired, to them often taking a little while to warm up to a run, I think thats pretty common amoung people with big volume. So just because my legs are sore, i dont skip a run. Instead what i do is pay attention to my feeling and how i rate the run when im done.. and in particular to the trend over the last couple of days.
If the feeling trends down, or im not enjoying things or finding it hard its a sign to me that i need an extra bit of rest.
At the end of the day, staying injury free, and able to continue training is more important to me than any one workout, or even a weekly millage goal, a running streak, or any other short term milestone.
The thing to do is to look at your long term goals.. mine are Boston sub 3, then im thinking about a 6hr race at the end of summer, and maybe racing the ultra i ran this fall... long term goals, that are not affected by missing one workout because it was MORE IMPORTANT to recover and stay injury free.
Cant really comment on the cookies... other than im relying on there simply not being any post holiday season.