Struggling at the Moment (Read 427 times)

 

You're down to a 9 minute mile?  Aren't you the same guy bragging about running 5Ks in 14:00 less than a year ago?

 

"I'm not going to run 13 miles at a 5 min. pace, 3 is another story."

14:00 5K is more like 4:30 pace, but what's 30sec/mile over 5K to someone who's certainly never run a 5min mile...

Lots of good advice here.

check your blood. If you donate blood they will check it.

409 is a good time for your 1st marathon.

Rethink your goals. Boston is not the most important thing in the world.

Run by time only. Do not keep up with distance or pace on your long runs. Mabe you will slow down a little.

Find a partner to run speed work and tempo runs with. Don't run against yourself

Tai Chi or yoga might help your stress.

Couple of things - First, as others have mentioned, slow down for the majority of your runs.   It took me almost 6 years of running TOO fast before I realized the key to getting faster is running smarter.   During those six years I was often dealing with nagging injuries dues to doing too many of my miles too fast, especially my long runs.   In the last 3 years I have seen my Marathon times improve greatly, and the theme for me is running MORE miles, at a MUCH slower pace.   With some speedwork sprinkled in 1, and finally 2 days a week after I established a strong base of mostly slow miles..

Second, don't get nervous about the timing of Chicago.  You are still 19 weeks out, so your statement that you should be at the peak of training is not true.    You mentioned about doing a 14 miler, however, that seems way to high at this point in the training.  I'm running Chicago as well this year and I haven't even started following any type of training yet - so you will be fine if you take a little break to re-charge, as others have mentioned.

Again, if BQ is your goal, you probably are running way too fast, too frequently, which gives your body no time to recover.   Think of NFL players..... they go really hard on Sunday's, and that's it.   The rest of the week is pretty much maintenance and recovery until the following Sunday.   I know it isn't the same thing, but just think if an NFL player tried to play even 3 games in a week (ie, 3 hard runs), they would be totally shot, and depressed 1-2 weeks into the season.

One of the keys to successful training is recovery and you're not giving your body enough time to recover.

Easy runs should be easy, recovery runs almost no effort at all. You should take at least one day a week off, more if you need it. Don't be afraid to skip the odd planned run.

Play around with your training, race regularly and see what works for you.

A BQ is a great target but running is a hobby for most of us, it's meant to be fun.

Whereabouts do you live? Are there any running clubs or marathon training groups, such as Team in Training, nearby?

3rd rest day. Legs are beginning to feel pretty good, and beginning to feel like my old self. But sure really miss running. Would love to get out there and go for a run. But will resist the temptation. At least another 5 days of rest.

After 8 consecutive days of rest, looking forward to getting back to running tomorrow. Planning an easy week. No more pushing myself hard 6 days a week. Think I learnt my lesson. Didn't realize how exhausted I was till I started resting this past week.

. I am suppose to do a long run tomorrow of 14-15 miles, but I am just hoping I make it 10 miles.  I must confess this past week I thought of quitting more then once, but I don't want to throw 2 years of hard work away. Any advice?? Thanks.

Same (almost) here. Not that I am having any issue sin my life, things go actually pretty well, but I feel extremely de-motivated. I am not even logging the runs I do. It's like I don't care anymore. The worse thing is that I am perfectly aware of it.

I skipped a whole week of training, well I am supposed to be tapering, but a whole week of the trails (!)... the problem is that I still have 2 weeks to go for my first ultra-trail (52km) with extremely high temperatures in sight and I have only done a single 40km training these past months (it took me 4 full hours to do). I feel overweight though I'm technically not and I am seriously concerned about being able to finish the race.

To make matters worse I only have 17 weeks and 6 days for this years Pijnenburg Bosmarathon (it's a cross-country marathon, what the British call cross-country, mind you) and this means that I will actually only have 15 weeks of effective training (Pfizinger plan).

Anyway. I will follow my common approach and do it in the way that's the easiest for me: Grind. Grind the plan, grind the race, full team ahead against the brick wall. I hope.