I have a monkey on my back, and his name is Racing. See, the problem is, back in the spring when you get the e-mails and info on all the fall races, they sound so fun, and HEY! if you sign up early, you get a great deal on all of them. So I managed to sign myself up for a marathon in July (the one I did in Utah), 12 weeks later the San Francisco marathon, 2 weeks later the Halloween Halfathon, 3 weeks later the Women's Half Marathon, 3 weeks later the Holiday Halfathon, and 4 (or maybe 5) weeks later, the Clearwater Halfathon, and a final half-marathon in March. And these are all before the Boston Marathon, which is in April.
The problem is not so much with the running or the mileage (especially for the half marathons, because I would most likely be running a long run with a similar distance anyway). The problem is that I want to do my best at every race, and race them all to my potential. Well, on Sunday at the Halloween Halfathon, that did not really work out as planned. I started out on a great pace (albeit a tiny bit aggressive to go for a PR), but after mile 5 I fell apart and had a hard time just keeping myself going. I am pretty sure my body was SO not ready to race a half marathon 2 weeks after the San Francisco marathon. Then Tuesday morning comes, and when I go out for what I think is an "easy run," my legs just will not cooperate. They wanted none of that. Wednesday was the same (a bit better, but still sluggish), and I start feeling very stressed out about the NEXT half marathon, which is only 2 1/2 weeks away at this point. How can I do my best if I can't even run normal?? After evaluating it with my coach, and by coach I mean Mark :), I've been instructed that I am not "allowed" to race the next upcoming half marathon. Instead, Mark gave me a reasonable pace that I have to adhere to instead. And I am only allowed to race the next half marathon (December 12th) if I've been able to perform some key workouts and the conditions on race day are good. Otherwise I have to wait to race until the January race.
It may seem dorky, but just having Mark tell me I wasn't "allowed" to race it, instantly took the pressure off, and I don't have to worry so much that it is taking me a long time to recover from the past two races. My legs even liked that idea, as they felt much better on this morning's run. And I have definitely learned my lesson: don't be wooed by the cheap early sign up prices!!
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2 comments:
It's good that you can give yourself permission to ease off a bit - I am sure your legs will be very grateful! See you exactly two weeks from today - WOO HOO!!!!
I run about 30 races each year but only race 2 of them and sometimes only 1. For me race means pushing for a good time. The others I use as training runs. I just relax and run, never looking at my watch during the run (race). It is very enjoyable and I get my long runs done with great company.
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