Struggling
For the past week or so, I seem to have been struggling with my running, having to take walking breaks which is rather rare for me.
My kids and wife have had the cold for the last couple weeks, but until the last few days, I was fine. I’m hoping that the reason I’m struggling is because I’m not 100% healthy. E.g. today I woke up with a sore throat, but that’s the only symptom I’ve had so far…no sneezing or runny nose. I went out for an easy 4-5 mile run and about 0.25 miles into the run, I came pretty close to vomiting.  I pushed on and took it half-mile at a time and eventually ran 4.5 miles
Yesterday was supposed to be an 8-mile run with 4 miles at tempo pace. It was tough and after about 3 miles I was starting to wonder if I should abandon the run. I took a few walking breaks and turned the speed workout into a fartlek. Like today, I ran it half-mile at a time. I’d run a quarter-mile at tempo pace and do a quarter-mile recovery walk/jog. I managed to repeat that until I did the 8-miles.
Sunday was a medium-long run of 12 miles. This is the longest I’ve ever run, but I’ve done that distance about 4 other times. I ran it an average 10:15 min/mile pace. It’s not my slowest for the distance, but the last time I ran 12 miles, I did it at a 9:55 min/mile pace.
I have an easy 8-mile run tomorrow. I’ll see how it goes. If I struggle through it, I may abandon my Saturday run and take an extra rest day.
I’m hoping I’m struggling because I have (or am getting) the cold.
May 9th, 2007 at 10:40 am
I occasionally run into weeks like this as well, where my body just doesn’t work like it’s supposed to. For me, I’d try to go out and do a normal run, and realize that my heart was racing like crazy and I was out of breath, even after just a few miles. Sometimes it would even be accompanied by chest pains (when I was in my mid-20s!). After having this experience several times, I realized that it always corresponded with worse-than-normal allergies. Thankfully, as I’ve lost a little weight, increased my mileage, and improved my diet, I no longer have many allergy symptoms other than the occasional mild drainage/sore throat. Now those weeks where I just feel off are usually preceded by excessive partying or lack of sleep.
Abandoning a short run probably wouldn’t hurt. I would usually cut my miles whenever I had those problems. For marathon training, as long as you keep your long runs going, you can still skip or reduce a few workouts here and there without hurting your overall training plan.
May 9th, 2007 at 11:08 am
That sucks. I’ve been there and know how you are feeling. I skipped a few weekday runs and saved my energy for the long run each Saturday while I was ill. I’d say “take it easy” but I’m sure you’ll react the same way I did when people told me that…
May 9th, 2007 at 8:33 pm
Since you are a “techie” like myself, you’ll appreciate what I am about to say….
Root Cause.
If you can determine the root cause, that alone may, at least, psychologically help. You might want to ask yourself some questions like…
1. Am I sleeping enough?
2. Am I getting a consistent amount of sleep every night?
3. Have my eating habits recently changed.
4. Do I think I have a cold/flu/gastrointestinal problems?
5. Has the stress level in my job increased?
6. Have I increased my mileage significantly from my previous week?
Having said that, I know how tough it is to lay back and not run. Skip a short mileage day, have a peaceful, long night’s rest and see how you feel the next morning.
May 12th, 2007 at 8:36 am
Around here allergy season has hit big time and everyone does not seem to feel like themselves. I hope you feel better soon.