Monday, November 4, 2013

I have Committment Issues??


Not that kind. I think I have over commitment issues! Sept was Redman, October was Ragnar and now a marathon awaits me in December, and I am getting that burned out feeling that comes when one is tired. My original thinking was that I would be in such great shape coming off Redman that I should not waste it and just chug along into the marathon and Ragnar, but I forgot one very important thing.




I am not 25 anymore!   Not even close actually.
 
 
Maybe this is an excuse, or maybe I think I am more fit than I am, but I have had such a hard time getting motivated to train for this marathon I have coming up next month. All I really want to do is sleep and eat. I have gained a few pounds since Redman, but I feel like I can never get caught up on my sleep, which is why I think I have over done it and not given myself time to recover properly. But what exactly does "proper recovery" mean anyways? Am I mentally worn out from running or is it physical???
 
Active.com states that one should allow for 3-5 days for every hour of racing. So roughly a month and a half recovery for me?
 
Other websites I looked up said 4 weeks to recover from Ironman.
 
So,  maybe this is natural. Maybe it is longer for some or shorter for some, but I know I am in no way ready to run a marathon in 3 weeks. Yesterday I went out and ran 11 miles and mentally it was everything I could muster to get me to finish that 11 mile route. Forget speed or worrying about time, just finishing the run was a chore.
 
So with all this said, I think the smartest thing or me is to back down a step from the marathon and just run the half marathon.  I just do not think I have the desire or the "want too" to finish 26.2 miles, and I certainly do not want to slug through the miles. I do not think I would be "competitive" in my eyes, so this is the next best thing. After this is over, I think December will be pretty low key, as well as will 2014. I am not going to make any commitments to any races until after the new year.
 
 



3 comments:

  1. I totally understand this!! It seems like you are already in "shape" for something, you don't want to lose it....but then you find yourself getting exhausted after awhile. I think you are making a good decision switching to the half. If your mind and body are interested, it could mean not just a slow time you'd be disappointed with but possibly injury too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. IM recovery took a long time for me ... I think post IM blues and burnout is common. Take it easy and look for something you WANT do do -- the half sounds like a plan !

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ironman does take about 4 weeks. It was tough because I had maybe a weeks downtime and then went straight into Chicago. I STILL need to take at least a 30 minute nape every other day to play catch up. Sleep and eat. Sleep and eat. Eat good foods that is :)

    Half is the way to go, really. You'll have a better race.

    ReplyDelete

Please leave me a comment on my blog and let me know what you think, good or bad, I can take it, and thanks for stopping by! Sorry for the word verification, but the spammers be spamming...