Coming Down From the Runner’s High

After my back to back races I found last week to be a real struggle.  I felt pretty good at the beginning of the week, but as the days went on I started to feel incredibly tired.  Add in a sore little niggle here, a flu shot there, and some crazy strong winds that made running a tempo pace a challenge and I was mentally struggling.

It all culminated in a tough long run on Saturday.  For my 2.5 hour run I decided to change up the usual scenery and run around the Glenmore Reservoir – a route I haven’t run in quite awhile.  The pathway around the reservoir has some more hills to contend with compared to my usual running route.  I figured it would be a good challenge to mix things up.  Unfortunately I hadn’t had a ton of recovery time between Friday’s tempo effort and Saturday’s long run so my legs felt stiff and tired from the get go.  It was also chilly out so my legs never really felt like they warmed up.

I also managed to tweak something in my lower back that added a new dimension to things.  Peat is still recovering from his surgery back in August and he isn’t very confident going up or down stairs.  No doubt I twisted badly picking up Peat while likely trying to juggle an iPad and a glass of water down the stairs.  My lower back hurt, and every once in awhile when I landed on my left foot I would get a shot of pain down into my leg.  Ow!

That being said it is very difficult to scowl your way through a run when there are so many happy runners approaching you on the pathway, giving you a smile and a wave as you run past each other.  I also had to feel proud when I made it to the top of the massive hill at North Glenmore and I had ignored my beeping Garmin letting me know I could take a walk break.  I figured I could walk when I got to the top of the hill.  And it is also very difficult to be upset when the University of Calgary Marathon training group is at the top of that large hill offering you a homemade chocolate chip cookie.

Despite the pain in my lower back (which is thankfully much better now) I think that run was a good character builder.  I’ve had to deal with those stiff and tired legs on race day before and it is far too easy to mentally throw in the towel.  Saturday proved that I could keep running and that it is possible to find the joy out there even if I’m not feeling my best.

Thankfully the week ended on a high note with my big workout of 5 x 5:00 hill repeats.  I had been anxious about that run all week.  5:00 up a hill sounded like a lot of climbing.  When I hit the hill I made sure to run up at a nice and steady pace and I didn’t look at my watch.  Those 5 minutes didn’t seem that bad?  When I turned around after my fourth repeat I saw a familiar face running towards me.  My friend Tara had found me on the hill and she was coming to run with me whether I liked it or not!  I couldn’t say no to that!  That scary workout wound up being not as bad as I thought.  It is nice to see that the hill training I’ve been doing lately is paying off.

With that workout I feel mentally back on track with running now…  That is good timing because I have some big workouts coming up!