Saturday, November 6, 2010

Abstract bricks

Every time I've failed to complete a run I've known I was doomed within the first two miles. It's actually pretty good motivation... because once I make it past those first two I know I'll make it the rest of the way.

I hit a wall today, though. I went out for my first 12-miler, per the training program, and I just couldn't do it. Couldn't make the legs function. I survived the first mile, albeit barely. Forced myself to stretch for five minutes. Made it another half mile beyond that, and then my legs just quit. Felt like I was wearing giant bricks instead of shoes. I was achy, nothing in particular, just really, really tired. So that makes my weekly mileage a pathetic 17 miles.

I know I'll have off-days from time to time. Still it's discouraging!

I thought I did everything right... ate carbs out the wa-zoo yesterday, took yesterday off from any activity, drank Gatorade beforehand, etc. So what went wrong? It could be any number of things.


First off, I think my body is fighting off seasonal illness. I've felt ok today but yesterday at work I was feeling a bit queasy. Since it's gotten colder I've been lackluster about drinking enough water. I tried Gu Chomps for the first time, maybe my body doesn't like those. It was a busy week at work and as a result my diet has been pretty horrid.

I made it to the gym after and put in a half hour on the elliptical, even that was harder than normal. Skipped my circuit training. All in all, I'm just tired. It was a hectic week with the election, I'm not feeling 100%. I'm going to take tomorrow off, then maybe attempt 12 again Monday morning (yay for more daylight)!

2 comments:

  1. We all have bad days. Sometimes it's because of another workout (tough workouts can effect you up to 3 weeks after you do them). Sometimes it's a poor night of sleep or not having enough food in you. Sometimes it's hormones or allergies or being sick. And sometimes, no matter how hard you analyze your log, you still won't have any idea what it is, and all you can do is chalk it up to a bad day. Don't stress over it...just rest up and get ready to rock your next workout!

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