Greg got our single jogging stroller fixed, and I got to take it out for a three miler this morning with Andrew while Will was at camp! I took it relatively easy since I have a 10 mile run scheduled for tomorrow morning, and I want it to go well. Still ended up averaging 10:31 pace while pushing the stroller, I feel good about that.
Tomorrow morning I plan to get up at 5 to do my 10 mile run before it’s hot out, so I’m skipping coffee today hoping it’ll help me fall asleep earlier tonight! Yesterday I drank three cups over the course of the morning and didn’t fall asleep until after eleven. (For those of you who don’t have kids, picture going to bed at like 4 a.m.)
Next week is a built in recovery week for my training plan, so I get to do three easy runs and do some relaxing! If tomorrow’s run goes well, I’ll feel like I’ve earned it. That’s incentive!
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| Andrew LOVES going for runs with me. Every time I speed up or start running again after an intersection, he laughs, claps, or both. He’s the sweetest thing 🙂 |
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| I kept hitting the lap button because I thought I was slowing down and wanted to capture my brief awesomeness. Oh, and the 11:14 is up a hill, and the 21:12 is clearly a walking break! |
So today I skipped my run. I was just too tired and I didn’t want to get out there and not perform decently. How do you and others deal with this? Meaning should I have just made myself do it and if I don’t perform well take the attitude that at least I tried or wait til I’m a little more confident. am I making any sense here? I don’t want to be quitter as I am in week 5 of 5k training.
How I deal with that feeling depends on the day. Sometimes I push the workout off to the next day, sometimes I go out there and take it easy. Sometimes I find my mood improves a mile in and I do way better than expected! Other times, I have literally turned around and headed home because my motivation was just not there. When that happens, a break is better than forcing it, for me.
At the same time, if you feel tired, but motivated to go, then don’t let fear of not performing well keep you back. Not all runs are going to be PRs – I’ve headed out tired and then felt GREAT because I completed the running even though I was tired. Maybe I took an extra walking break, maybe my running was slower than normal, but completing a workout despite of it all is a great feeling.
I took an unscheduled four days off earlier this month because I was just… not feeling it. I was questioning the whole running thing, I didn’t want to go, I would get out there and turn back… four days off and then some cooler weather were all I needed to turn things around and now I’m doing great. Wrote a post about it here: It’s Not All Good All The Time
The best part about taking that break was the feeling I had when I picked back up four days later. I wasn’t scared that I was quitting, I knew it was just a break, and I needed it, and my running benefited from it.
Those days happen to everyone – you’ll get better and better about figuring out the best way to deal with them, and eventually you will have days that you’re so tired/stressed that you HAVE to go for a run!!!
Also, props for skipping a run you didn’t feel like doing. Being flexible enough to do that once in a while makes running manageable. You can do that workout tomorrow, you can take an extra few days to complete the program, it’s all good! I try not to push off too many workouts in a row, but I’m not scared to go out and run easier than I planned if I’m having a tough day.
Your comments were awesome. I guess someone just saying it’s ok. Well I did my run this morning and I felt like it. Not that I was jumping out of bed at 5:50 to go do it but I felt better than the day before – so like you said, doing it the next day is ok.
Thanks Kelly!!
That’s awesome! I was actually thinking about you this morning on my run. I wanted to shut off my alarm and go back to sleep, but I did that LAST week for my long run and rescheduled it to the next day, and so this week I was like “nope, we’re doing this”. Made me think that really the right answer is to make sure you’re not always making yourself go and risking burn-out, and you’re not always waiting until you feel like it and risking quitting. Just as long as you’re doing some of both, it’ll all work out!
So glad you went for a run this morning! That makes yesterday just fine 🙂