Throwback Thursday Running Posts

TODAY IS MY 4 YEAR BLOGIVERSARY


So I had a fun blogging Throw Back Idea, okay it sounds fun to me, but maybe it may be stupid to others.  You tell me.


I started blogging back in April 2011 and I kind of posted whatever came to my mind.  It's now been 4 years and over 506 posts later:)

I thought it would be fun to show you one of my first posts, actually it was my 2nd post ever.
(My first post was so stupid I actually deleted it, because it went something along the lines of, guess I will try to blog.. LOL)


Anyhow, back to today's idea.  In April 2011 I was struggling with well, you'll see a clip below. Then I will tell you what happened because of it.

I had titled this post To Run or Not to Run, I've shortened it so you can get the "just" of it without having to read the entire thing.


I'm sure all runners have woken up and their body just isn't in the mood to run.  If they managed to get themselves out the door, then every step feels like you have weights attached to your feet.  Sometimes after a few miles you start to feel good again, others you practically fight to finish even the shortest distance.

It's a tough one for me right now.  Right now I am running a marathon once or twice a month.  As soon as I finish I immediately have to start getting ready for the next one.

Some marathons (especially on the east coast) are easier to recover from, but others really take their toll on my body.  Right now it seems like nothing I am doing is can zap my body out the painful slump it is in.

I know the reason behind it, the icy Oklahoma Marathon in the cold rain, hail and wind took more out of me than normal.  My usual recovery tricks (rest) aren't working or can't work, so it's time for new tricks or experiments.

After 17 marathons over the past ten years one thing I have learned is to listen to my body.  There is a big difference between "bad pain" and "good pain" and how to run with each.
Right now I have another pain, I like to call my "fighting through tired pain of the legs and feet" pain.

Technically I don't have to go through this, and I could take a long break, but frankly I don't want to and I am trained well for back to back 26.2's so I probably don't need to.  Plus I am having a blast with my 50 states goal and I have lots more marathons coming up in the coming weeks, months...

So the plan is: quit complaining and toughen up.  Push through the tiredness, skip speed and just push the miles until the body gives in and hopefully in two weeks, I'll be back to normal again and ready for my next marathon.  Time will tell I guess....



So the question is, what happened.  Did my "complaining post" solution work?
The answer is YES.  I didn't blog about what I did, but I did put it in my journals so I took a glance back.  (Ya I keep a detailed Runners Race Journal of key training moments as well as all my marathons:)



PER MY JOURNAL


I pushed on those tired legs.
Week 1, 6-16 miles a day, six days, one rest day.  On the day's my legs felt the most tired I made sure those were the days, I finished the run and distance no matter how heavy or sludge like I felt.
Week 2, I tapered for the race coming up only running 4-8 miles each day, five days that week and cut back a little so the legs would still feel rested to race on the weekend, but still worked out.



Two weeks after that post, and listening to my body, but ignoring my mind telling me I was tired.  I came back and ran Vermont, and actually okay in that one.  I had a stress fracture in my foot, but other than that, it was a pretty great race.


A few weeks after that, I headed to Alaska and did even better.  Which is crazy because it ended up being half a hilly trail marathon and I hadn't trained on trails at all.  I remember that one pretty well, because in the 20-26 ending miles, my legs felt the freshest they ever had toward the end of a marathon.
Fairly certain it is because I pushed it in the weeks prior when my mind was playing tricks on me.



Clearly, I had done the right thing and my experiment worked.  My body may have been overworked, but I was in great shape back then, and my body knew it just needed to remember how to handle the extra effort and miles.
I know for a fact it was because my dad taught me years ago how to toughen up and run through the tired point.  It also came down to knowing how to listen to my body and know what I was trained to do and not to do.  I know a lot of times a little "rest" is exactly what is needed to get one back.  But that is not always the case, nor the only solution, this I have learned through the years!


Sometimes you have to remind your body and your mind what you are really made of!  Put all your hard work and training to the test and teach it to run harder when you need it to.
It's also a great idea to keep a running journal, so as you try new things, you will be able to remember even years past how your body handles different types of training and if you need rest, or you just need to train harder to get out of slumps.


(It's crazy, because I think I may only have a few of the same followers that I did back in those early days.  Most of you don't even know me as a hardcore runner, because of the past 2 years.  But don't worry, I am working on it, and soon probably later this year, you'll get to know that girl too:)






If your a blogger have you ever went back and looked at your early blog posts?  Do they make you cringe, or smile and laugh:)
Do you keep a detailed runners journal, of your key training moments and races?  Do you use it to learn from too?