Tuesday, February 16, 2010

You take the good, you take the bad

...you take them both and there you have
The Facts of Running, the Facts of Running.

Or something like that.

No matter how much we love running, there are days when it's just not going our way. We're tired or our mojo has left us or we're ill prepared or rushed, etc. etc. Any number of things can combine to produce a notsopleasant running experience. The important lesson is not to panic and not to get down. Bad runs happen to good people. My last week felt a little derailed after starting off so optimistically. The downside is I had a couple lousy feeling runs, one where I felt I was working way too hard for the effort and another that I desperately wanted to end from just about the start. The upside, I've been here before. I know not to dwell and in fact, in this case, I know where I went astray. These aren't new concepts but I need to get them down to remind myself once again:

- never underestimate good nutrition!
- plan for the unexpected and allow yourself to remain flexible in your training
- don't set off on a LR with negative thoughts
- make time for the things that make your running happen, i.e. yoga

And so the new week has begun and I'm one recovery run & one session at the studio in and it feels like I'm sporting a new exterior to match my improved interior.

"What you are is what you have been. What you'll be is what you do now." - Buddha

5 comments:

Runnin-From-The-Law said...

Very good reminders! I found myself derailed by many of the same things 2 weeks ago. The important thing is to move on after a few bad days/runs. Sounds like you are getting back on track!

Sarah said...

So true!! Last week I had two....yes two attempts at a tempo run that I aborted after 0.5 miles. Just didn't feel the mojo. This week felt much better and had an awesome tempo.

Sometimes we have it and sometimes we don't! Just be glad the not-so-good days didn't happen on race day!

Theia said...

Another factor, for me at least, is sleep. Or, rather, lack thereof. So important to our training!

Joe said...

There was this old Nintendo baseball game I played as younger lad where the players had biorhythms going. If you were at your peak, you would just kick butt - if not, you would struggle.

Not that we're all regularly kick butt/struggle in regular cycles as runners, but you said it well - we'll have our bad days. Getting through those just makes you stronger in the long run (no pun intended)

Christine said...

glad today was a Good :)