Irritability and need for recovery (Read 450 times)

I've been reading that irritability and bad mood (and poor sleep) can be a sign of need for recovery.  I went to bed last night around 11:00 and was woken up at 3:50 AM by my dear fiancee who'd been out with an old friend.  She continued to converse with me for an hour - much to my irritation.  This morning, school got cancelled (March comes in like a lion) but rather than be relieved, the irritation continued.  I'd planned a good 55 minute run today with some increased pace on the flattest course I have available, but when I got to the flat part and told my legs to push, there was pretty much no "go" in them and even a little tightness in my left hammy.

I ran a 45 minute "easy" run last night with no problems and felt good afterward.  I gutted my way through the 55 minute run today, but shut it off right at 55:00 - not a step further.  I was spent.

Right now the goal, for me, is to maximize my recovery time while increasing base miles and running 6-7 days per week (2 of those as recovery jogs).  It seems clear that the irritability from this morning was an indicator of need for recovery, but went somewhat unheeded.  Should I have done something different?  When my legs wouldn't "go" should I have shut 'er down (about 17 minutes into run) and headed back home, then switched the tough run to tomorrow?  

I'll definitely be doing a recovery jog tomorrow.  I spent some time in compression shorts and sleeves on my shins while resting in bed and feel a lot better now.  

Only you can know whether that type stuff would irritate you at the level it did... but those type things seem pretty normal-level things that might cause some grumpiness.  Now, if you got mad at the coffee pot for being SoDamnSlow, that's another thing entirely.

 

I dunno.  If you had a dead-leg run, then sure, some recovery miles would be in order.

 

There are lots of causes of the grumps.  I wouldn't pick overtraining.

 

15 is my limit on schnitzengruben.

 

I think I will go some recovery miles now too.

And, Buckeye, I may be over-thinking, but after two injuries in the last 12 months, I'm trying to tune into clues that I'm getting from my body that may not be apparent.  I don't really take hints like pain and soreness that well.  If there's something to things like mood being indicators of underlying problems, then isn't it worth taking a look at?

 

Baby, please....I am not from Havana!

 Ah, thanks.