running highs and lows (Read 829 times)

Amazing. Last Saturday, with cooler weather, I had a great 20 mile run where I finshed the last mile in 7:20 and avg 8:20 for the whole run. My goal is to an 8:24 for Columbus. I'm feeling great and very confident. Then Saturday night I catch the flu or something like it. Still I'm not overly worried figured at the very worst I was losing weight and would be even faster and my body would be healed. I take off Sunday and Monday to get back up to speed. Run a short run on Tuesday of 4 indoors and then my normal 8 on Wen and 8 on Thur both again indoors. I am now close to eating what I normally eat on Friday and take that day off to be overly cautious. So I run this morning at 9:30. I am not used to running in the sun because normally I run on a trail and just got my butt handed to me. I was planning on 8. I ran 4 with a stop at the house to make a quick shoe change. I honestly felt more worn out from this 4 mile run (in the heat) vs my 20 mile run. I don't know how this is possible. So now I go from being overly confident last Saturday to being worried again. Running is enough to drive a person insane. I've run two 20 milers with medium trouble so I am thinking I should still be okay and plan at least two more but if I can't run 4 miles how am I supposed to run 26. I'm not sure if it was the heat or the effects from the illness but I sure hope the heat breaks soon. Just wanted to rant a little.Thought others might be in the same sort of spot.

From your log, I see you had a pretty sharp increase in mileage last week. 20 milers are tough on your body. I think you were just in recovery mode this week and that's why you feel so lousy. My prediction - you'll be feeling good again next week. If it helps, I can tell you I seriously bonked at 18 on a 20 miler training for my first marathon. To make matters worse, my running partner crashed, too. We were extremely discouraged and thought there was no way we'd be able to be able to actually do 26.2. Fortunately, we both recovered fine and did well in the race. Keep it up, you're gonna do great at Columbus!

The highs and lows are part of it, and I am always pleased when a high hits on a long run. Today I could barely choke out three miles way slower than average, so I feel your pain. That's why we taper for the races.

This sport can just be so frustrating sometimes. Ken D please don't get me started on my first marathon. Lets just say I decided to try a 26 mile training run before my marathon and hit the wall at 18.5. The last 7.5 miles were the worst I ever ran/walked.

Trying to fighure out why you ran well or poorly can be extremely frustrating, I wrote a race report on a 5K PR with painful detail on the entire week leading up to the race. Writing the report made me think about a lot of the factors that might have gone into the unusually fast race, and left me with more questions than answers. Even worse is when you can't really figure out why a run sucked. My first attempt at a marathon is now 9 weeks away, and I thought I was progressing unusually well. After a couple of good 18 mile runs, I was really gaining confidence and believing in myself. Then last Sunday I ran my first 20 miler, figuring the bump from 18 would be no big deal since the weather was PERFECT. Instead of boosting my confidence, it kicked my ass and left me wondering how I will ever be able to add the 6.2. Tomorrow is a 50% off run, so hopefully a strong and uneventful run restores a bit of confidence and sets me up for a better 20 on the following Sunday. Since you can't really evaluate all the variables, just acknowledge that it was one bad run and let it go. Easier said than done probably, but that's what I'm going to try to do. Best of luck to you, hope your recovery is complete soon.

Ken D: I didn't get offended because I don't remember seeing any stupid comments from you. I'm not overly worried, you just never know how your body is going to respond so it is hard to know what to expect on Marathon day. What is really frustrating about this sport is that you can train hard for 4 - 6 months and do everything right but if on race day your body doesn't feel right it will seem as if all that hard work was for nothing. Well you know what I mean. You of course are leading a healthy/active life by doing so.