This task had been a little rough the last couple days. Again, I thought of my Ultra aspirations and remembered reading about people having to drop out of the Western States 100 because they couldn't go downhill. This, at the time, seemed preposterous. Not so much anymore.
More than anything, I'm just tired. My snooze button is starting to wear out in the morning. I attribute this to the soreness at night, which prevents really good sleep, so hopefully some relief will come as soon as tonight.
Looking ahead, I'm really excited for the two big events still coming this year and the training involved in them. I'm looking ahead at next year, and I've been asked to be an NF Team Captain in Green Bay this spring. I'm leaning pretty heavily towards the half marathon, but I'm not sure yet. It really is a nice event, at either distance.
In late July I'm going to run the Grand Island Marathon, which has intrigued me for a while. It'll be a change from the normal marathons I've done (roads, for one, aid stations, for another), but I'm excited to put some time in on the trails in training. I think doing long runs on the trails in the early summer will help me to avoid any overuse injury as the miles build, too.
In October, I'm going to run my 5th straight Chicago Marathon, this time like a madman. (Weather permitting.)
When I look at my schedules the last couple years, I come to a couple conclusions.
1. While I've tried to run fast, I haven't trained to run fast. Speed work and Hill work is essential.
2. I'm trying to race too many events. I don't think there's anything wrong with running 4 or 5 marathons a year for me. What I can't do is race 4 or 5 marathons a year. If I ran 4 hour marathons in all but one of them, I'd be ok. I tend to really push it each time, whether I'm trained or not, and this leads to injury that in turn takes time to recover.
Understanding this (remember, I labeled myself "learn-on-the-fly"), I'm finding it easier to put together a schedule next year that results in a Chicago 3:10.
Again, weather permitting, of course. :)
4 comments:
Sounds like we're recovering at the same rate; I regained that ability today too! I can also pick things up off the floor and stand up without grunting!
Its fun how when we're still in pain from one event, we already plan our next round of it isn't it? A lot of mine is still up in the air, we'll see how things pan out!
So much is depending on if my hip still hurts after my muscles heal up...
For some reason, walking UP stairs is never that bad, but DOWN? Uff-da, right?
Good Lord, I'm not worthy. My quads hurt just from PT guy cracking the whip! :)
Hey thanks for the note on my page. Sorry Chicago did not go as planned. I think we all can take stock in the fact that between Chicago and TCM there was like 60,000 other people who also did not reach what they where looking for time wise. Maybe the weather will be nicer next year.
Post a Comment