In November and December, I felt confident. I was logging the miles and executing my long runs without fail. My paces were great. My legs felt great. Everything was great!
January was tough. I started to hit the wall. Training started to feel a little stale. My legs started to feel a little heavy. My energy started to feel a lot depleted.
But. It could've been worse.
Lows: All those missed runs, whether from post-travel exhaustion or sheer burnout/laziness.
Planned miles: 79
Actual miles: 54
Looking at these totals, I see that my total mileage isn't so far off from previous months, which eases my anxiety a little, although it's pretty embarrassing how short I fell from my original plan. But the main thing here is that, even having fallen short, I'll be ready for this race.
This training cycle has both felt long and also like it's totally flown by. I know now that my excitement to train again led to some major over-planning and unrealistic expectations. For my first cycle back to long distance, I can't be too disappointed.
And now...February is IT. The chance for me to truly finish training the best I possibly can. The chance for me to truly feel like I'm back to being the runner I was. It will mark a full year of recovery and rebuilding. If I think too much about it, I might explode. So instead, I plan to put my blinders on and finish. this. thing.
ABK
I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S BEEN A YEAR SINCE WE STARTED RUNNING AGAIN!
ReplyDeleteYour training looks really solid to me. I think you are going to be fulfilled emotionally at the end of this race!
I know, can you believe how long this process has been? It feels like it flew by, tbh! I was worried it would feel like I'd lost so much time, but it doesn't!
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