Here's what I don't get.
On Sunday I did just shy of 5 miles. A decent pace - not great - 18m - but did it. And felt tired - but okay.
Then today I used my new Gymboss interval timer to do the run/walk interval for 30 minutes - and my shins were KILLING ME.
How can I go 5 miles okay and not 30 minutes okay?
Ugh. It's frustrating. It makes me wonder about my abilities to keep pace - and that leads me to doubts - and fear - and that is the path to the dark side.
I'm hopeful for my meeting with the dietician next week. I'm doing what she asked - and tracking what I eat - and seeing patterns - seeing why I seem to hover - I go up a few - down a few. And I'm making a conscious effort to break the patterns. But I want to know what her plan for me is.
I have roughly 90 days until the race. That's LOTS of time to train and lose weight to get faster.
But I doubt myself at times.
Thank goodness YOU all are here to remind me to believe in myself.
EPCOT AWAITS!
Until you are properly conditioned, you will have good runs. You will have bad runs. I only seem to have consistently good runs if I run often. Otherwise, within a week I'm back to having alternating good and bad runs. Gotta keep at it.
ReplyDeleteIt could be worse, I'm finally seeing a specialist today about an injury.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the hard work, sometimes you just get pains when you should be able to go the distance.
Keep it up! No pain, no gain, right? How can you turn these negatives into positive thoughts?
ReplyDeleteSo you're concerned about your pace, but what if you didn't worry about the pace, and worried more about completing? The pace will come as you get lighter. (Lighter - stronger- faster)
Don't let 1 bonk day throw you. :)
Oh Jonathan - welcome back to running. Remember how sometimes things go really well and others you feel like you've never run before? Trust me with over 1100 miles this year I can totally relate. I have good days where nothing hurts and then I have days where I feel like I've never run before and can't make it a block. The important thing is to just keep at it, don't get frustrated and don't give up.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of variables from one run to another. There will definitely be good and bad days. But usually there is a reason - perhaps a subtle one - which can cause a bad experience. You might have been going just a little faster, or changed your stride just a little bit in some way, because you knew you were going a shorter distance, and that worked your muscles slightly differently or slightly more vigorously than they were used to.
ReplyDeleteAlso, your muscles might still have been in recovery from your past successful long run, although usually that wouldn't be as much of a factor after 48 or so hours. I myself do have times when I will do a faster or longer run than usual, feel not-too-strained the next day but nonetheless give myself a day off of running, and then go back to running on the second day expecting to do great only to find that I'm actually more sore and tight than I was on the day right after the run! Go figure!!!! (But then again, on those days I just start out more slowly than usual, give myself the first 5 or so minutes to warm up gradually, and after that first 5 minutes I'm usually "back to normal" and running as I usually do.
Always take it easy for the first few minutes, especially if you've been on a particularly record-setting run within the last day or two, and you might find that just by starting out slowly for the first few minutes the rest of the run goes better.
Another thing to consider would be any difference in the terrain - grass vs concrete vs dirt vs asphalt - as all will affect you in different ways especially if you are not used to them. Changes in elevation or lack thereof might also play a factor. Case in point, and one that seems counterintuitive and surprises a lot of runners at first when they aren't previously aware, is that it's actually more "dangerous" for a runner to run DOWNHILL than uphill!!! That's right - because when you are running downhill, even though it is "easier" at the time, your body weight is actually slamming down on your knees and lower legs much more so than normal, and that can certainly cause pain in the knees (if you have knee problems) or more commonly (if you don't have knee problems) in the shin areas as they bear this weight.
Some people attempt to counteract this, with varying degrees of success, by alternating short periods of running BACKWARDS (called retro-running) during their runs as this stresses different muscles and provides a more rounded workout. You don't want to do this during a race or for very long periods of time, but trying it for periods of 30 seconds or so three or four times over the course of a half-hour run might be something worth trying, assuming you are in a place where it's reasonably safe for you to do so.
Yes these are the days I just can't stand myself. E gets after me and says that's why it is training.Yes it does put self doubt in there specially when you know you CAN. Training rather it happen during training ,learn from it, and correct it.
ReplyDeleteProgress my friend progress.
One word. Consistency.
ReplyDelete