Friday, May 13, 2011

Signs of Life

Signs of over training include, but are not limited to:

Exhaustion –
Irritability –
Moodiness-
Sleeplessness –
Fatigue –
Loss of appetite –
Decrease in performance –

I only listed the “ones I have”. There are more signs… not a lot more though.  Sadly, these are also possible signs of mommy hood, Iron deficiency, stress, and PMS, so it’s tough to say whether I’m truly having signs of “over training” or "signs of life". 

My training plan had plenty of easy days in it.  I just kind of suck at, um, taking it easy.  Yeah, I think that about sums it up.

Insomnia dropped by for a 1:20am-3am visit last night for the first time in a while and I have to question, was it related to the brutal training schedule I’ve been following, or is it just stress?  I had some time to think… while I was thinking about not being asleep… and replayed the number of times I’ve said the following in the last 3 weeks…

Tomorrow I’ll take a rest day.  I can’t rest today – I miss my mileage.
Tomorrow I’ll run easy.  I can’t run easy today – I need to do my repeats.
Tomorrow I’ll do a light workout.  I can’t do a light workout today – it’s a key workout.
Tomorrow I’ll just swim.  I can’t miss my run today – I miss my run too much.
Tomorrow I’ll be sure to cross train.  Can't pretend that Adrenaline is considered a light workout.
Tomorrow I’ll only workout once.  I can’t skip my brick today.
Tomorrow I’ll address these symptoms of over training, but today I’m just going to push through.

Today I needed to do a light workout, because yesterday I didn’t take a rest day, because the day before I did a hard cross train, because Tuesday I worked out a brutal double, because Monday I ran instead of swimming, because Sunday I was on my feet for 12 hours, because Saturday I did a stellar brick because because because ….

But I didn’t.  I pushed myself to hold the pace, even when I wanted to slack.  I pushed myself to finish the 6, even though I ran past the car at 4.  I pushed… again… thinking, “tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day…”

Once again, I put it off until tomorrow.  And tomorrow I really want to go to Adrenaline…

And Sunday I want to run “long” because I miss my run…. 

And Monday…  Monday starts a recovery week.

By mid-week of next week, in theory, I should be insane, twitchy, and the blog should have 7 neurotic pre-triathlon posts in a row. 

If I manage to take it easy, like I’m supposed to…

The thing is, when I go to the gym, I go BIG.   I don’t know how to slack.  I don’t know how to swim easy, run easy, or cycle… actually, cycle easy I have mastered.  I certainly don’t know how to Row easy *new favorite toy at the gym, ROWING MACHINE ~ love. It.  I rowed yesterday, and spent 24:24 minutes beating RM into submission.  Freaking. Awesome.  But.  It was supposed to be a light day, I just couldn’t bring myself not to bring it.

I mean, if I take a day off, I tend to take the DAY OFF and do NOTHING, and lay around napping and junk.  But… the last time that happened was… um… not recently.

But here’s my question for you.  How do you stop yourself from BRINGING IT to your workout?  Do you EMBRACE the rest day?  Or do you PUT OFF the recovery “until tomorrow”?

~savor the run~

7 comments:

Jen said...

Yeah... I need the answers too. TG keeps saying... rest means rest! I say, active recovery rest... means easy. Isn't running 12 miles at a 9 min pace easy?

bobbi said...

I, unlike you, have NO problem taking a rest day. I need them. I know this. In a year or 2 when I'm so much better at this thing called TRAINING, it may be different, but for now, I'm too paranoid about not being able to run AT ALL to risk injury.

That said, when I'm running, I'm RUNNING. I have such a tough time dialing the pace back to what McMillan says I should on long or recovery runs. I mean, I'm FREAKING slow as it is. It's ridiculous, the slowness they expect me to maintain for 18 miles. Ugh.

Jill@Run for the Hills said...

I create a plan that I'm happy with and then stick to it, and that includes 2 rest days a week. I remind myself that I need those days to let my body recovery.
Once in a while, there is nothing wrong with laying around the house doing nothing. Savor the run for sure, but be kind enough to your body to let it heal and repair. That's my policy and opinion! I'm amazed by all you do, but if you've got those overtraining symptoms, injury isn't far down the list. Allow your self the rest!

Rene' said...

I am learning that rest days are important and when I have a rest day I embrace it and let it go. Now...that being said I am not in the middle of a real training plan right now. The overtraining is what got me in trouble in the first place. Take care of yourself my friend. I don't want you to get hurt again.

MCM Mama said...

I need days off. Sometimes it's because my body says too. Sometimes I'm not willing to give up sleep. Sometimes I just want to.

And I take easy days. Usually they involve a run with a client and no other time to workout.

But, I'm not one of you seriously driven fitness people (that's not a judgement, just a statement). Sometimes I need to push it. Most of the time, if a training plan doesn't require it, I'm just as happy to get my sweat on without feeling like I'm pushing it.

And, take a rest day already, ok?

Meredith said...

Um, yeah. Hard to take it easy. But, I'm making myself. I simply want to run and run and run. I don't want to get injured. So, as I'm running, I remind myself why I'm taking it easy. I remind myself that my training plans says what it says for a reason. I remind myself that each run has a purpose. And, if you want a giggle, I'll email you the metaphor I came up with yesterday... It's a good one.

Señora C said...

I am so glad that you love the rower. I can do so many miles on it and not hurt my ankle. It's wonderful for a recovering fankle. But I think you are supposed to have a little rest somewhere, wink, wink.