Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Time to Breathe



It's been over a month since RR100 and I'm experiencing a little bit of a low in my training. I feel I recovered well; I took two weeks off from running and cross trained on the elliptical and recumbent bike and let my poor little toes and legs recover properly.
I started to slowly add back in miles, but made sure I listened to my body and backed off if I felt too fatigued. My legs actually felt awesome no injuries or wonkiness, however my overall strength and endurance just seems low.  I'm sure this is normal after running a 100 miles, but since this was my first I'm kinda in the dark on how long it will take my body to fully recover. 

A month after RR, I ran a 1/2 marathon trail race, put on by the Trail Hawks, and had a blast. I could tell I was not at my normal race strength after mile 2 and I backed off on the pace and decided to "just run for the love of running." It was a wise choice on my part and I finished with a time of 2:02. Not the fastest time, but for me it was good enough, and I was proud of myself for tossing the "race hat" to the side and embracing the beauty of the trail and having fun.

I've continued to slowly increase my weekly miles and ran a back to back of 20 and 18 over the weekend a few weeks back but the miles kicked my butt. It was the first five day training week and the 60+ miles just wiped me out! I started to get a little down on myself thinking my performance at RR100 was beginners luck and I would never find my endurance "mojo" again.

So, I am now on Spring Break in Silverthorn Colorado with my son Zach and feeling very sorry for myself.  I want to run long but after three days I can't manage more than 6 miles in the high altitude.  I'm monitoring my heart rate and its in the 60's and my normal range is the low 40's.  I know my body has not adjusted but damn it, I want to run at least 10 miles on these gorgeous trails.  I'm thinking again, "I suck, I've lost it, it's the end of my Ultra running" I have all these races coming up and I can't even manage a normal training week. Gosh, how pathetic I sound!

Then this morning the lightbulb goes off....I'm putting way too much pressure on myself! I don't have to run any races; for Goodness sake I haven't even registered for them!  What the hell am I doing to myself? I preach to people all the time "Just have fun, celebrate each day you can run; it's a gift"

So this morning I decided not to run. I'm taking a day to just "BE" and enjoy the quiet of the house while Zach is snowboarding. I've walked the pups, read a book, watched the snow fall on the mountains, made myself a pot of hot tea and watched the birds on the deck. I'm not an Ultra runner today, I'm just Sherrie. I'm not going to ruin my vacation by stressing about running miles in the altitude, hiking is just as effective and much more enjoyable.





So, during my morning walk with the pups I spotted a bald eagle in flight. What an amazing gift to see the beauty of this majestic bird in flight; I'm kinda of an earthy girl and after exhaling and wiping a tear from my frozen face I said out loud "Alright, I get it!" Its back to the basics.....Run for the love of it, believe in yourself, embrace and respect the beauty of the trails, celebrate every run, and finally.... Lets see how far I can go!



2 comments:

  1. Love it!! just BE Sherrie today after all that's the best of you :) No unnecessary pressure allowed here! You've accomplished some amazing things and guessing the mind and body just need some good old fashioned R'n'R! I have not doubt that when you are fully rested you mojo will be back with a vengeance! Now enjoy those mountains!!

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  2. Awesome, Sherrie! I love the honesty of this post, and I'm glad you're letting the pressure off. You are an amazing runner and I have no doubt that luck (beginner or otherwise) was NOT a factor in your performance at the 100. You have been pushing yourself quite a bit since you've gotten back to running and I have seen (literally) the difference as you've gotten more and more back to your old self. Just settle in and enjoy the ride, I'm sure it takes time to get your body, mind and energy back to your old levels. You are my Ultra hero, you know what to do (relax), you just have to convince yourself to do it!

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