Well, it was only three weeks ago that I wrote that one of my goals/intentions this year was to ‘run healthy’. After having looked back it seemed to be a theme, every year I write I want to train smart or run healthy etc. Then inevitably I find myself caught up in the training plan and not taking a step back to truly reflect on whether I am making the best decisions.
So, when my right leg started to bother me again after my workout on Tuesday my initial reaction was anger.
Angry at my body for not responding well.
Angry at my mind for the choices I had made.
Angry that despite eating and sleeping more it did not seem to be having a positive impact.
Angry that having the will to train hard, I am held back by my body.
I do not want my first reaction to be anger when it comes to training. I train because I love it. And I need to learn to be kind to myself, no matter what.
After giving myself a couple days to reflect I have realized that:
- There is no goal race right now so there is no sense in pushing through anything that could take me off running.
- Just because I have trained a certain way in the past does not mean that is the right thing for me now (*although this is still hard to swallow and will take some time to accept).
- Just because my body is not ready for this training now does not mean it will never be.
So today I put on my shirt with some of the amazing marathoning women who inspire me. I slept in and went for a walk. Rather than trying to make up for the day off by cross training I am doing everything I can to give my body what it needs. That starts with me being kind to myself and accepting where I am in this moment. Now I sit here to reflect and try to learn and grow from the experience. I share this because I hope it can help someone else along their running journey and selfishly because it helps me to reflect as well.
This was meant to be a ‘hard week’ in my training block which always makes me super excited! I love the challenge of training and the satisfaction that comes with accomplishing the tough runs. But when it comes to training I need to be more fluid with it, not strictly adhering to a plan, in order to get the most out of myself. And maybe the satisfaction should come from listening to my body, rather than pushing through.
Things I am going to work on moving forward:
- Being more fluid in my approach to training.
- Reframing what ‘training hard’ means.
- Reflecting better, not just writing out the training I am doing but how am I really feeling and be HONEST with myself.
If I am being honest I have been doing some of my mileage faster than I should for sure. Mostly out of boredom but that is not an excuse. Ironically I just posted on Instagram about the importance of the easy run… I really do need to practice what I preach.
Interestingly this week on the Whoop my recovery has been lower which is also an interesting fact to take into account and likely pay more attention to. Even despite getting 9hrs of sleep last night I have not been able to bounce back to the green.
In further reflection maybe I also need to revisit what ‘training hard’ is. I love the grind of challenging runs. But maybe the hardest part of training truly is taking it easy and listening to your body. Maybe once you reach a certain point in your training journey and you know what it takes to get fit there is nothing more to do on that end so it flips to having to own the rest and recovery. Maybe if I can reframe that it will ultimately help me move forward. Only time can tell. I am going to work on this being the ‘fun’ of training manipulating different aspects of it in order to get a better result.
In regard to actively reflecting I am going to do my best to take a step back and allow myself to truly see how I am feeling, recovering & adapting. Not just writing out what the prescribed run I did and whether I hit the paces.
So here is to embracing the journey, even if the journey does not follow the training plan exactly! Thanks for reading and I hope in some way this helps you as well.
Toronto Running Chiro 