Should I Take a Break (is my body telling me something)? (Read 792 times)

I have been running 18 to 25(ish) miles per week consitstantly for a while now. I normally do 1 long run a week. I am currently deployed, so 1/2 of my runs are on the T-mill and the other 1/2 outside. But running outside is limited to about the equivelent of a 2.5 or 3 mile loop. About a week and 1/2 ago, I was doing my long run,and I felt great for about the first 4 or 5 miles, so at that point I thought I would try to do 12 miles(most of my long runs are usually between 7 & 10 miles). Well, at mile 6, I started to feel a bit of fatigue creeping up un me...By mile 8, I had to stop and talk a walk break. At that point, I figured...ok, I'll just do 11 miles. For the next 2.5 miles I felt terrible and had to walk several times. I only made it to mile 10.5 and for the first time in my "running life" my body pretty much said "forget you...I refuse to run anymore, right now" Well, I just chalked it up to maybe being a little dehydrated...no big deal. But, all of my runs for the next week(with the exception of one of them, which was a very good one) were not pleasant and I felt like I had to force myself to complete them. And when I tried to do my long run the following week(I was going to make it an 8 miler), At about mile 4, I just didn't feel like running anymore. It wasn't like the last one, when my body told me it "wasn't running" anymore. This time, I was feeling slightly fatigued again, and just decided I didn't want to continue. I took the next day off, and the following day did a 5 miler, that was again unpleasant until about mile 3.5...the liast 1.5 wasn't too bad. However, the next morning after the 5 miler, I woke up and had not been awake for 10 seconds and I got a MASSIVE charlie horse in my left calf muscle. That is only the second charlie horse I have ever had in my life....and the first one I have had since I became a runner(over a year now). And it is still painful, but doesn't seem to hurt when I walk or anything and I know that the pain from it will subside in a few days.... But, Do I need to take a break? Is my body telling me to rest for a bit? I really don't want to, I hate seeing a gap in my "bars" on the training log. And I hate seeing lower miles than normal in my log as well.

Take a day off. Get some food and drink. Relax, don't put pressure on having to run. One bad week is not the end of the world. A bad month is not the end of the world.

Oddly enough(being deployed and all) I am getting about 8.5 hours of sleep a night & My job/life is not very stressfull at all over here. And my eating habits haven't changed at all since I have been here. I am almost inclined to say I am just in a rut from being over here and not having much option for variations in my running. Maybe I can just chalk it up to a bad week or two. I think I'll take 2 or 3 days off and let my sore calf muscle heal. And after that, start back slow/low miles for a week or so and see if I feel any better.

2) Or maybe go the other direction - and run more. Try running every day of the week for a couple weeks. For me, running daily actually makes me feel better, keeps my legs fresher. It sounds counter-intuitive, but I tend to go through what you're going through when I'm running less consistently.

I couldn't agree more.

We all have different motivation for running. The primary motivation for me is racing. If I get into a lull there is nothing like a good race to pull me out of it. Taking time off won't help me to race faster, so that wouldn't be an option. I would re evalute my training and try to come up with a plan to run a good race. That doesn't always mean running harder--sometimes it can be the opposite. However, it never means quitting.

I'm in Iraq...so any hill running I do has to be on the t-mill...since it is flat as a pancake outside...lol I appreciate all the answers/solutions/insites you guys have given me. As for 5 course meals...not so much...and I wish I had a mint on my pillow when I got back to my tiny room. I love mints But I eat 3 meals a day...and most of the food is pretty good. Some of the "chow halls" I eat in have a "healthy choice" room where I can eat fish, baked chicken, broccoli and such. So I'm not complaining

Thank you very much for being out there for us - take advantage of the healthy choice room and keep running.