This has been a tough month for training for me. Between the terrible weather (cold, snow, wind) and being involved in the kids’ activities, running has taken a back seat to life.
My daughter is a trampolinist, and her gym, Scarborough Gym Elites Gymnastics Club, hosts one of the provincial qualifier meets every year, the 3rd weekend in February. For the last 3 years, I have been on the board of directors of the club, and to say I’m actively involved in this meet is an understatement.
This year was supposed to be different. My enthusiasm and excitement for running was higher than it had been for the last two years. I had plans; train for a spring 3:45 marathon, then maintain the fitness into the summer and run the ENDURRun. It was going to be glorious, and I couldn’t wait to get started.
Then reality set in.
I am now three weeks into my training schedule, and I’m barely getting in half the mileage I should be.
Last week was a bad week, for training, and re-imagining my routine. It started out okay, with me getting up at 5:30am for the first time in… well… a LONG time (race days don’t count). I got my workout done; Mondays are a rest day, so I did some AB exercises and 20 minutes of yoga. Then it was on to making lunches for everyone and getting ready to head out to work.
As I reflect on my running for the year 2010, it’s hard not to get depressed. It has been a dismal time. I started the year out with the intention of breaking the 3:20 time goal and qualifying for Boston, and ended up with me over an hour slower than my best time. I’m also 10kg heavier than I was at this time last year, which doesn’t help the running a whole lot.
I had a great hilly 10km run last night with my running partner, the kind of run that was tough, but not too tough. It reminded me of some of the reasons why I enjoy doing this as a sport. As I’ve posted, I’ve had some motivation problems with my current batch of training, and have sought the advice of my closest friends and family.
The advice I’ve gotten seems to fall into the following categories:
I’m having a hard time with the training this week. My slight injuries are almost nonexistent these days, and yet I just can’t seem to get myself motivated to train. I can barely get out of bed for work, never mind get up at 6am to go run a tempo. I’m in a funk, and need to get out before all the work I’ve done up to now is shot.
A running blogger I follow, Amanda Loudin, is asking her readers to join in and list their #yearofrunning13. She asked us to answer 6 questions that look back on our past year of running.
Best Race Experience I wasn’t happy with many of my race experiences this year, but one that I guess I can say was the “best” of the lot was the Night Race that took place in Toronto the first week of September.