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Thursday, July 7, 2011

I'm only human

Someone recently commented to me about how much I run and workout.  They commented how they could not imagine devoting that many hours of their day to physical activity, which, in their opinion, is not normal for a human.  I told the person that I am indeed human and go through streaks in my training.  Some days I work out more and have more energy than others. 

I've got a pretty good memory and tend to remember things for long periods of times.  I did a post last year where I talked about the "valley of training," which was written right before I found found I had low iron.  One of the responses was that people just get through tough training times.  Sometimes this involves leaving a Garmin at home, while others it just takes some Patience.  But, it will pass.

This week I feel like I've been in a valley.  I feel like I am beating myself up mentally.  Most of this comes from the fact that I am not running very fast right now.  I keep thinking back to my spring half marathons, where I ran them around a 7:40 pace, knowing now that I don't think I would have a chance to do that, which makes me sad and frustrated.  Shouldn't a person get faster if they are running more, not slower? 

While I still love running, it has been harder to motivate myself to go run because of this mind set.  It is almost like I feel like I am not a good runner because of the paces I am running.  Running is always harder in the summer due to the heat and humidity, but that only provides a little bit of comfort.  Then, I think about the races I've recently done.

In my last race, the Metlife Race Around the World Duathlon, I ran my fastest running (and biking) splits ever (I think).  Before that, I did Madison to Chicago Ragnar Relay, where I had three phenomenal runs.  Given how I performed during those races, I feel like I should be training better. 

I know marathon training is a totally different ball game compared to anything else I've done before.  It is a different mindset than running a half or one of the shorter distance races. 

I hope I climb out of the valley I'm in soon. 

2 comments:

  1. The comments people make to me are the same. Exercise is our pass time. I think they are just envious that we choose to exercise where most people force themselves to.
    and the valley, yeah. I'm in it too. It's been hard with the heat and humidity. It totally changes things.

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  2. I use to get three eyes when people use to ask me how many mils I use to run. I told them 50-70 miles a week. They looked at me like I was crazy and thought I had an eating disorder or something. God forbid you are an athlete. Just because I don't have the biggest muscles or the biggest biceps doesn't mean I am not strong. I think people don't realize that running is human's second nature. We were made to run. To catch our pray and to track down wounded animals in the forest for miles and miles and miles. Don't worry about what people think about you. Do you honestly think they are driving home from work thinking about you? People are selfish and do whatever they can to make themselves feel better about THEIR situation. I hate people like that.

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