Sunday, March 13, 2011

Grab a shovel

I believe I am officially in a running rut.

The past 2 weeks at work have been a bit crazed, which prevented staying on the schedule.  I snuck in a run here and there, up to 6 miles...but I have missed my long run now for two weekends in a row.

Today I am supposed to be running 14 miles.  Clearly, I am not - unless I am uber talented and have discovered a way to blog while running.  Someone will someday...but I'm willing to bet it won't be me.

I did go to WTF (TRX) yesterday, then 75 minutes of Powerflow hot yoga in the afternoon so I am not completely in a workout rut.  Just a running rut.

This morning, after cursing Daylight Savings Time, I started the routine trying not to think too much about it. I prepared my steel cut oatmeal, had a cup of coffee, put on my tights/underlayer/socks/Brooks, started getting my water bottle ready, spilled water all over the kitchen in an epic failure of the Brita pitcher...

And promptly decided it was a sign that I shouldn't go.

Yeah, it's a pretty deep rut.

I think my major roadblock is the sheer amount of time I have to actually put into the running for the marathon training.  I am slow - turtle slow - so 14 miles will take me roughly 2.5 hours.  It is completely overwhelming to lace up my running shoes and know I have 2.5 hours ahead of me.  It's more than my brain can wrap itself around right now.

I realize mental toughness is at the heart of endurance training.  I've been there for IM and I was so thoroughly exhausted from it when it was over, I took a lot of time off.  Now I'm back at it, and it really is...tough.

This afternoon I have WTF bootcamp, then another hot yoga class.  I am bagging the long run, which I know is such a bad decision, but I'm getting back on the program this week with the short runs to try to build up again.

I know I'm not the only one - comments welcome on you handle the rut...advice appreciated!

3 comments:

Christi said...

I hear ya on the rut. My coach has been giving me my workouts day to day. So that I am only focusing on one goal and nothing more. Takes the pressure off me and so far it has worked!

Good luck!

Steve said...

Geesh, that sucks. I seem to always get my long runs in. I run with a group so that helps a ton.

I don't take my training too seriously though. It is fun for me. My 16 miles on Saturday was brutal, because by the time I met with the group with 3 miles in, we had 6 miles against a 25 mph wind. By mile 4.5 or so of this I was getting pretty irritated. :)

Good luck, any running partners who can help you with the long run??

Sam Wilkinson said...

IronMin...You can do this!