This week has been tough. I had high hopes for increasing mileage and a little intensity, but a combination of factors led to that not being the case. In the end, I only managed to run four days for a total of 22 miles.
The week started out cold, and only got colder from there. I will admit, even as a northern Minnesota boy, born and raised, this winter is beginning to get me down. It's the second-coldest winter I can remember, with snow to go with the temperatures, and I am getting tired of psyching myself up each day to get outside and run on icy sidewalks in the single digits above and below zero. On that horizon, there's hope: the weather forecast calls for rising temperatures this next week, although it still won't get up to the average (35 or so degree) temperatures for this time of year.
I had intended a long run today, on the order of 13 miles today, which would have pushed me to 35 for the week, but on Saturday I woke up with a cold, and legs that did not really feel recovered from my hill repeats on Wednesday. So opted to take the day off.
Today's day off was less planned, but I think it will ultimately be good for me. I wonder if I did not give myself enough recovery from the Frozen River Run, and my legs had not yet caught up. Either way, I had planned all day to go for a run once it got a little warmer out (something I am also tired of doing. I prefer to run an hour or two after breakfast).
Again, this did not happen. I still feel a bit sick, and I am not particularly psyched to run in single degree, not digit, but degree, weather. And again, my legs feel tired.
This last has me worried, because I can never remember it being this difficult to build up my mileage. But looking back at my running logs for the past several years, I have always had low weeks, and buildup periods, and illnesses. And I tend to bounce back well from them. Last year, this happened in the two months prior to my 50k, and I ended up with no real long runs prior to the race. I think that ultimately is what made the race so difficult for me.
So I am taking two things out of this week. First, I need to let myself rest and not get discouraged when I have a few days off. My run on the river two weeks ago was phenomenal. And I got three hours on my feet out of the deal, which is a solid long run even if the distance was not extreme. That is money in the bank.
Second, I need to focus on the long run. Not only will that help my overall fitness and accumulating mileage, it will help me gain confidence for the longer races. So I will try for two "focus" workouts each week, one speed or hill and one long, and the other five days will be doing my best to take care of my legs. Whether this requires taking days off, easy, or cross training (I splurged on a pass to a local fitness center), I will take care of my legs.
Finally, and I know I said I was taking two things out of the week so forgive me, I am going to take an OCD break. What I mean by that is this: running distances takes a certain amount of obsession. You need to be focused and get out the door every day (except your rest days!). You need to have a plan and try to stick to it. You need to be a bit obsessed by mileage.
But taking it too far is never a good idea. And when your body says take a break, you take a break. So that's what I did.
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