Saturday, January 7, 2012

My Sucky Saturday RUn

I'm a little cranky with my body today. I'm not annoyed by the fibroids - I can live with them and apparently have been for up to 18 years. No, the reason I'm annoyed is my sucky, awful run yesterday.

I've been really happy with how I've been running. It all seemed to be going nicely and I was coping well with 4 runs a week plus the strength training. I was feeling strong. But yesterday it sucked from the first k. My legs felt heavy and tired. I kept waiting for them to loosen up and run freely but it just never happened.

I'd decided before I left home that I'd like to run around 15k. I've been doing 12s for about two months now and I was ready to push it out a little. So I left the group at their 6k turn around and pushed on. Why do I do stupid things like that when I know I'm not feeling it.

So I just kept waiting to get a second wind - and it never came. Thank goodness I had a couple of squad friends with me and one was even kind enough to walk with me a couple of times. Thanks Kerry!

So when I got home I analysed what had happened, as all runners do when it doesn't go to plan. A - I'd had a bit of a stressful night with Josh on Thursday and was worried about his frame of mind. B - I'd had a test to find out if I had cancer on Friday and even though I'd tried not to stress about it, I was a little concerned. C - the test involved fasting for half of the day and then when I ate the only proper meal that I had was dinner. D - on Saturday when we started running the temperature was a balmy (stinky) 24C/75F degrees with a humidity of 85%

Conclusion - A + B + C + D = a sucky run.

I've had other bad runs after days where I've been stressed, or when I've had poor nutrition, or when it's just been really hot. So add all of these factors together and it's no wonder that it was BAD. So my response to this is that I'm resting today - no strength training. My legs are still feeling it and it would be counter-productive. Tomorrow I'll assess how I'm feeling and if I'm feeling ok I'll do a short run. The verdict's out on Tuesday's speed session. It'll be a matter of wait and see. If I have to I'll just take the whole week off. It's not what I'd planned so early in the year. But there are just some things you can't fight.

But on the brighter side, my friend Natalie is back from visiting her son in Denmark. Three hour coffee session yesterday!! It's so nice to have her around again.

10 comments:

  1. I had a sucky run today, and I didn't even have any As, Bs, Cs or even Ds to attribute the mess to. Maybe I'll pretend there's an E in there, that should help sooth the pain some :). Good to hear your friend has returned, every woman needs a 3 hour chat with their best friend :).

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  2. I know it doesn't do much for the ego, but Id'e take one sucky run over not running. I had a week of them!
    I hope "B" is a negative!! Stay strong my friend!

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  3. hang in there...sounds like you've had a lot on your mind and on the go. keep thinking positive on "B"...and sending you good vibes from victoria!

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  4. All my running last week has been total rubbish - I think I've had a bit of a cold which has made my body tired. It sounds as though you have plenty of reasons for not running well - you'll be back on form soon.

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  5. Sorry you had a sucky run but at least you know there was a good reason for it. And getting out there probably helped with your stress...Keeping my fingers crossed that your exam turns out cancer free.

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  6. I wish I knew why some of my runs suck. Probably stress... yep, that will do it.
    Hope your next run makes up for this one.
    Cancer tests, even if we try not to think about them can suck any positive energy out of a person. Trust me, I know first hand.

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  7. Of course, a lot of factors such as stress, nutrition, motivation and weather, might affect our run. Anyway, I hope "B" will be negative! Take care and be back on form soon!

    May you have a lot of relaxing coffee sessions with friends :) that's good too!

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  8. You have been thru a lot lately and I reckon it's stress related! A day of rest and a long slow hilly run helps me in these situations. All the best Char.

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  9. Been there - it's even worse when it's a race that you have planned for! Definitely stress! Give yourself some "put-ups", like the fact that you were still out there running after all you faced this past week!

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  10. Well at least there is an explanation for it... but that is quite a long time to suffer through a sucky run! Your next one(s) will be better!!

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