Time to ask for help :o

libelula

Right.
So the story is this.

I've been running for almost 4 years.
33 year old female.
Got to a 84:21 10 mi, 49min 10k and a 24:?? 5k last year. Was happy out at that. Delighted with myself.

Then I got a notion to train for DCM. Bit of a lifelong dream tbh, so I flung myself into training for sub 4hr. The long runs wore me out and I dropped all speedwork in the three months leading up to it. Going out too fast, and a gammy knee from mi 21 saw me finish in 4:27. As delighted as I was to have finished a marathon (chuffed with myself, and still am), deep down it really knocked me that I didn't get the time I wanted after working my ass off and then some.

My problem now is, and what I'm asking for advice on, is how to get my mojo back. I want to concentrate on 5k and 10k and nothing more for now, but I just can't get into the flawless routine I had last year. I'm stuck.
I do up a plan, get all my times and paces off McMillan, include hillwork, a long run, and speed reps and after a week I just sorta don't bother getting out of bed to train.

It's all mental, I think the marathon knocked the fire out of me. I did a 10 mile a couple of weeks ago in 90:?? which was alright considering the shameful stop/start training I was at leading up to it.

So before I pack it all in and get my bike out of the shed and try something new, has anybody got any words of wisdom that might give me the slap on the arse I need to sort myself out? It sounds like such a contradiction. I miss being a runner. I miss not being able to get up the stairs without grunting, and I miss laughing out loud while pegging it up a hill in the pissing rain. But my head just won't make me do it.

I know all that sounds daft, sorry about the long rambly post

Cartman78

There'll probably be a bunch of people along in a bit with loads of well researched and informed advice but looks like you'll have to read my ramblings first :cool:

What I took from reading your post, was that maybe the rigidity of the plans has sucked the enjoyment out of it for you (?)...is it like you look at the week ahead, and all the workouts,details etc just seem like work rather than something fun/pleasureable/enjoyable?

Might be worth ditching the plans for a bit and just let yourself fall back in love with running all over again. Maybe sign up for a target race in the summer to give yourself something to semi-focus on without it becoming a chore.

Run when you feel like it (may require some willpower at the start), at a pace you enjoy and at a distance that's challenging but within your range. See how things go and you'll hopefully be in better shape in a few weeks.

Anyway, best of luck

mirrormatrix

Did you take a good break over the winter? Sounds like you need a break from structured training. Forget the plan - sod McMillan. Take the bike out, get some miles on that in. Maybe try some running without a goal distance or time just to get the enjoyment back of actually going out there and getting some exercise. If you're not enjoying the training (or at least not finding it motivating) then you need a change in approach.

RoyMcC

Sounds like you run alone libelula? My firm suggestion, for what it's worth, is that you find a friend, or a group, to run with. Maybe your subconscious now equates running with pure hard work which human nature tends to avoid. Running/jogging with a few others brings another dimension to it - a bit of chat, a laugh and a joke.


Secondly it will force a new routine on you if you know there are going to be others meeting up.


I doubt I'd still be running now (at 62) only for starting to run with others. I was always a lone runner but running in good company has given me a lift again.


Best of luck.

ger664

Join your nearest club.

emerald007

Leave the watch and the plan at home for the next month. Just go out and do few runs, try some new routes and just enjoy the jog.

wrstan

Head for the hills!

Seriously, if you have access to some trails, just go explore them on long, slow, easy, hopefully sunny, stress free runs. There are some amazing trails around.

Alternatively just accept the staleness, it comes and goes to most of us! While it's here do something different, or just dial right back, and you'll find your mojo will come back when you're ready to get back out there.

Dubgal72

Good advice so far. It sounds like the marathon bit you in the bum. Don't worry about that, it did to 90% of the field that day, yours truly included. We invest so much in a marathon, so much so, that when it goes 'wrong', it feels like the end of the world. No matter how hard you had worked, if you were susceptible to it, the heat and humidity (especially after going off fast) were going to get you that day. So if I were you, I would chalk it up and take a lesson from it. Believe it or not, you have banked a lot of endurance, even five months on that you will be able to draw from.
The great bit about the shorter stuff is...it's not as long
+1 to the above, sounds like you need to fall back in love with running again. Ditch the schedule for a while. Go out three, four times a week. Do one short, one long, one fast and one slow. Or don't. Do what you want to do and remember to smile This time of year is deadly to run: mornings are brighter, evenings are longer, gloves are going back in the drawer and shades are coming out of hibernation. Daffs are growing and birdies are singing...if you don't fall back in love with running with all this, you're a lost cause
Ps your post sounds like a great Training Log intro... *nudge nudge*

RayCun

As others have said, join a club. Running with others is fun, it helps get you out of the house, and you'll do the speed stuff

annapr

You've achieved great times already... sounds like the marathon training (and result) knocked you back a bit... maybe you're just a bit burned out after that...? Great suggestions above...

Have you come across the DCM 2014 graduate thread? Lots of good stuff on there and also a plan for post-marathon training. It does include sessions, hill sprints, etc., but the main focus of it is to spend time running... 30 mins, 45 mins, etc. and not worry about pace and distance. You might find that a good way to ease yourself back in?

I procrastinate by reading some of the great logs on here, which then inspire me to get off my arse and out the door...

Best of luck with it... it's like being stuck in the middle of a long race... just keep moving and you'll get out of the doldrums

libelula

Thank you all so much for taking the time to reply, I appreciate it.

Some good, solid advice in there, all of which I'll be taking on board in some form or other. To those of you who've suggested I join a club - I'm already a member of one but if I'm honest I haven't been getting much from it. Training times are awkward to work around, and the coaching and advice (for my level anyway) is fairly non existant. What I did enjoy from it was what I learned from the gang whose group I was in. I learned far more from them than from anybody else. I'm still in contact with them, so I'll either get back to the club when I'm back up to speed, or meet with the weekend long run crowd. At the minute I just don't have the stamina, their long run paces tend to be above my comfort zone, but that's a sttory for another day

The advice I'll take most heed of is that I'll just chill out, and get back to loving it again. I've been so caught up on how slow I've gotten that all I do is stare at that bloody garmin and not really enjoy what I'm doing.
I'll start running for fun. Leaving the watch at home (this is someone who would drive 10 miles to get it for training last year if I forgot it :rolleyes:) and just run forest run.

Again, thank you all so much. There's plenty of food for thought there, and I can feel the motivation motor starting to tick over already

@Dubgal72 - great suggestion on the log. Watch this space!

annapr

you will get a chorus of 'ditch the garmin' from around here (not me though)

libelula

annapr wrote: »

you will get a chorus of 'ditch the garmin' from around here (not me though)

Ah it has it's time and place. I've found when things are going well, the numbers spur me on and make me feel good. When it's going badly, the watch is like a schoolyard bully sneering up at me :P

RayCun

pick some races you haven't run before - 1500 on the track, a 4 mile, an IMRA run - that kind of thing. Run them for fun, and don't compare your times to last year (that's why things you haven't run before) or plug them into MacMillan

libelula

RayCun wrote: »

pick some races you haven't run before - 1500 on the track, a 4 mile, an IMRA run - that kind of thing. Run them for fun, and don't compare your times to last year (that's why things you haven't run before) or plug them into MacMillan

Oh that's a good one, I like it