Saturday, April 12, 2008

Streak Ends

I decided to kill my streak of 10+ mile runs today, going since February 27th. The wheels felt like they were starting to get wobbly and I didn't want them to fall off. I would have liked to have kept the streak going for another few weeks to make it two months, but logical thinking overtook the emotional (more specifically the ego), and I decided the best plan to move forward was to hold back and ease back into it. Continuing to ignore the warning signs surely would have been moving me backwards.

I first noticed the overtraining symptoms about a week and a half ago and took action by taking three days off. The signs were mostly trouble sleeping, fatigue, and a sporadic appetite. The trouble sleeping was most prominent. Taking that time off was a good start, but following that up with over 64 miles of running over a five day period only brought on the signs more. Duh. What did I expect? That was pretty stupid.

So, I took the last two days off. I noticed my body starting to get back on track again. Last night, I slept like a baby, and after a grad school meeting this morning, I came home and took a huge nap that felt wonderful. Plan is to ease back into things over the next week or two and do a better job at listening to my body. Doing so should only make me stronger, and that's the mantra I need to keep in mind.

So out the door today under beautiful sunny skies and temperatures close to 60 degrees. Ran a short three miles and called it a day.

Worth noting that the snow is melting extremely fast. It only really exists in patches in the heavily wooded areas, but even those are starting to shrink. Won't be long before the trees start to show some green. Sweet.

Ran 3.0 miles @ 8:20/mile pace.
AHR/MHR - 140/155
Paved roads.
Mostly flat.
Upper 50s, sunny.
Shorts, short sleeved shirt.

3 comments:

Andrew said...

It's gotta be those hills!

RunSueRun said...

Sleep -- ahh... Yes, sleep is good!

mindy said...

I get the same insomnia. But then I never listen to my body and insist it's just work anxiety. Way to take care of yourself and listen to what the body says - good lesson to all!