That’s right, I have decided to defer one of my Fall half-marathons. It’s not as simple as ‘because COVID.’ Yes, COVID is a piece of the answer. But the truth is my body is not ready to train.
I know I am not alone in the running struggle bus! Quarantine took motivation, races, normalcy. While I stayed active the entire time - shout-out Sky’s the Limit Yoga! - I wasn’t moving as much as I normally do. Wait, what? Working from home kept me more stationary, no office to walk around, no walking to my car, etc. So my body was just confused!
But let’s backtrack to pre-quarantine. I was struggling in February and March. My body just didn’t seen to go, it all felt sluggish. When COVID’s first victim of Shamrock Marathon weekend was called off, I decided to take a run break. I only ran on Tuesdays with the only focus of ‘get moving.’ The purpose of the break was to recover. I had been training since early summer 2019 with little breaks. It was as if my body just was burning out.
At first, I feel great post-run break. Then I attempted a run challenge. Five days in a row with at least a 5k run. Sounds simple, right? Lesson learned, that was too many miles on my body. Because remember, every body is different. And mine simply didn’t like that challenge.
What’s happened since, the fatigue is real. The exhaustion hits early in a run. The muscles aches start after one mile. And mentally? Well that’s its own story! But truthfully, interval and track workouts are the only way I can mentally beat the miles. It’s easy to tell someone just push through, but you’re not them! You’re not the aches and pains, you’re not mental anguish.
Over the course I recent runs, I kept telling myself ‘Devin, defer Rock ‘N Roll.’ But I kept telling myself I could get past this hump and train enough to run it well. Last week, I just had had enough. The unknown if the race will happen plus my own struggles it is too much. Running shouldn’t be misery! Yes, summer miles were miserable. You get my point! So, I’m deferring my Rock ‘N Roll entry.
Between now & mid-August, I’ll focus on finding my stride. To find the joy and peace in running, not the pressure of race day.
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