In April I ran the Boston Marathon. Which was amazing. And then didn’t stop. I still had a full docket of spring races, which I did well in (even won some money in one). Then summer races started, and I didn’t really think about resting until about July. And then it was kind of too late. I was beyond over trained, over tired, over done. So, I decided to take a kind of sabbatical. In September, I quit paying attention to the clock. I still had some races to finish out the year, but I just ran them to run them. And then all winter long, I didn’t train AT ALL. I still ran almost daily. But just running. No speed work. No hills. No training. And I ate whatever I wanted. From Thanksgiving until, um, still. But I promised myself some rest, so I took it. I promised myself no training until I needed to start training for spring races. And it’s time to start training for spring races! Yea! Joy!
But here’s the thing…. I’m not sure I care so much anymore. I still want to run. Every day. I love it. It’s just part of me, like breathing or peanut butter. But I’m not sure I care so much about racing anymore. Not the actual running of the races. I still want to do that. They’re fun. I like them. But actually racing the races? Not too sure. I sort of feel like I’ve been doing this for a looooooong time, and I’ve pretty much been pushing myself since the start. I kind of just want to run now. Forrest Gump style. Just because I felt like runnin'. I had a taste of it running a few races with Hubby last year, and it was nice!
So, we’ll see. I’m going to stick to the training schedule I’ve got planned for now, without being crazy runner girl about it. And I’ll see what happens when the races come. Some of them are already paid for, so that’s a done deal (even though the hotel I’m supposed to stay in in May is, um, kind of uninhabitable at this point, and I’m really hoping they’re done with whatever it is they’re doing by the time I’m supposed to check in…). But the rest of spring is kind of up in the air. I’ll just keep running and pick the distances (and paces) later.
Just musing on this because it’s totally new territory for me. More to come, I'm sure.
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4 comments:
good for you :) maybe you can pass your wisdom on to me and teach me how to stay motivated when it gets cold outside, haha.
You have no idea how thrilled I was when I read this post. Good for you!!! Run because you want to run. Don't feel like you have to run for anybody or anything but you. If you want to rest, so be it. If you want to run, okay. Fast, slow, whatever. It's all up to you and whatever you decide will be the right thing. Love you!!
I can understand this completely. I trained for the Chicago Marathon the last two years (my 3rd & 4th time) with hopes of qualifying for Boston and both were horribly hot. i also ran and competed hard for years in high school and college. And after last year's disaster of a marathon, I decided that I need to just start running for fun. A friend of mine asked me to do a local race with her. I might pick up a few here, and there just because I want to. No pressure. Just enjoyment and love.
That sounds great! Running for fun sounds more theraputic anyways. Good for you, big sis.
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