Saturday, February 11, 2012

So where I have been the last 5 weeks?

That is a very good question. I wrote about half of my race report within the 2 weeks following Harbison. That was the decent half, where things weren't great, but had not completely fallen apart. Finally finished it tonight. I've been here, just have not had much time at all to complete it. I knew it wasn't going to be pretty when I did, but still.

My "recovery" was surprisingly fairly quick - after taking 4 days off (that worked last time I had ankle/lower leg pain), I still ran 20 miles in the next 4 days (1 day off in there). Thought I'd get it all back and just keep motoring on.
However - my motivation was sapped. I was tired of struggling in these 50k's/ultras. How to move on?
I started doing a circuit training class once a week.
I added back in a 4th day of running (the hills around ICAR).
Added speedwork back in (on the FIRST 3:50 marathon pacing schedule)
All that seemed to do (or maybe it was just the overall timing) was make my legs very heavy and weak. Long runs were Not happening. Cut all of them short since the race to 9-13 miles.
I did my longest run on the trails at Lake Conestee, which was a much better place to run than I expected. Did two full "laps" of practically every trail.
After 4 weeks of struggling (except my speedwork/tempo runs have been decent the last 2 weeks) with weak legs, I decided to take an easy recovery week. No circuit training, no extra hill run - just a speedwork session and a 6mi tempo run.
So far so good...until last night.
Out of the blue, a cramp in my right calf woke me up from a deep sleep. 20 hrs later, I still feel it. Tomorrow is my "long" run, so we'll see how it feels. Heading back to Conestee - it's closer/quicker than Paris Mtn.
Part of my motivation waning has been do to my desire to be at home with the family. My little girl is three now. Enough said.
I also do not have a single race scheduled. During Harbison, I obviously gave up on the Mount Mitchell Challenge. I don't believe in myself to do the long runs just yet needed to train properly for any race of any distance, and I don't have the speed to enjoy a shorter race right now.
So what does that leave?
Doing my FIRST training plan, but without the longer run. I'll stick to 10-13 miles each weekend, but focus on my speedwork and tempo runs. Getting my speed back is my new goal. For what - I am not sure. Keep my mileage around 30/wk though. May have a 1-day relay with Team DNR in April (Southern Blue). Brother wants to do Tough Mudder in SC in October...unsure right now.
We'll just see how the next few weeks go!