On the other hand, when a run goes bad, I just want to forget it as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, that's not always possible; the memory of it keeps nagging at me, annoying me, reminding me that maybe I am not quite as good as I thought I was.
Case in point: last Friday, I drove out to the canal, excited for a long run. The weather was lovely, I had the day off from work, and I was pumped. I was sure I was going to run further than I ever had before, and that I would maintain a good pace while doing so.
Six miles in, though, things started going wrong. Ultimately, I ended up cutting my run short by 20%, and my overall pace was one of my slowest on record. All of this was especially disturbing because the day before I had just signed up for a 50k. So, how to deal with it?
First, I kept reminding myself that any run is better than no run. 18 miles is nothing to be ashamed of - even if it is slow, even if it is not as far as I wanted.
Next, I started trying to figure out what went wrong. Once I started thinking about it, it was easy to figure out. First, I had been invited over to a friend for drinks before. I shouldn't have joined. Several beers the night before a long run is not a recipe for success -- because of the beer, but also because I only ended up getting 5-1/2 hours of sleep. On top of that, I didn't eat nearly enough breakfast - just a small bowl of oatmeal. And despite all of that, because the weather was fine, I took off too fast out the gate.
So, those were all factors within my control. Things to learn from. The bad run was because I made bad decisions, not because my body randomly quit on me.
Having figured all of that out, I knew I had to make some good decisions and set myself up for a good run, so I could get back on the right track. So, early this morning, with the temperatures hovering at a cool 68 degrees, I loaded up my iPod with some power songs, then took the car and drove to a course along the river, where I could blast out three miles without worrying about traffic crossings or other runners. I'm proud to say that I blew away my previous personal best, running the three mile course at an 8:02 pace. Sure, that's not going to win me any awards, but last year at this time, the best I could pull was 8:48. I'm pretty pleased with myself, and I don't mind bragging a bit about it.
Good post. I too tend to try and forget bad runs as quickly as possible. Now that i'm taking my training more seriously, I ponder the reasons for them more often, but it's quite natural for a body to try and ignore something that's caused it pain. I've got a few problem areas i'll be pondering blog-fashion recently; perhaps together we can help each other out as we work towards a marathon.
ReplyDeletei've been thinking about this a lot lately, having had some bad runs myself.
ReplyDeletei think the primary factor that affects my bad runs is going out too fast. the first two miles dictate the pace for the entire run, no matter how far i go. if i go out too fast, i end up crashing towards the end of the run, struggling through the last couple miles and slowing to a crawl. maintaining a slower pace for longer runs is something i struggle with and am working hard to remedy (mostly using an HRM, as you both know).
heat and hydration are the next biggest factor. it seems that i can run for about an hour and a half without needing water, if i'm properly hydrated to begin with. the heat doesn't necessarily affect my energy levels all that much, but if i am not hydrated enough, i sweat so much that i get dehydrated well before the run is complete. i try to take on 48-64 ounces of water leading up to a run, and that seems to take care of the 1:30. any more than that is uncomfortable.
food does come into play, but i don't think i've run far enough yet for it to really play a factor. when it does, i will probably just use gels.
sleep also seems to affect me. even more so than beer or whatever else i might consume the night before (carbo loading). if i'm extra tired, i tend to feel fine up to a particular distance short of a "long run" and then hit a wall (not THE wall, but just a wall) for the last part of the run. i also seem to get more sore if i am tired.
in fact, the most telling characteristic of a bad run for me is the recovery. the other day for example, i went out and pushed it... it FELT awful, but it wasn't a bad run, and i recovered after a day of rest. a couple runs before that, i was over tired and under hydrated, running in the heat. i felt awful on the run and was sore for 2 days afterward, lacking energy and feeling in a generally sour mood.
that leads me to a question (maybe worthy of a post): what is your recovery regimen, but short terms (right after a run) and for the day(s) after (i.e. how much rest, what kind of activities do you avoid, seek out, etc...).