Recovery Week
Some might question whether I needed a recovery week after "only" running a half marathon last weekend, but the race sure took a chunk out of me. And I PRed for the distance on trails, so I think I've earned it.
This week, I've done a couple of light 3-milers, some yoga, and I returned to the pool for some deep-water running. This fall, cross training was something that really took a hit from my crazy schedule, and that presented a challenge to keeping balance in my overall training. I am resolved to do better with that this spring, and now is the time to reinstitute the habit.
(Speaking of spring, I am hoping to nail down my plan soon. And yes, I do have my eyes on a marathon. More on that later.)
The older I get, the more I recognize that "running" is about so much more than running. It's also the strength work, the yoga, the swimming, cycling, etc. Some old school types may disagree, but I've tried it their way. No more.
If anything I am at the point now where I am trying to train my brain to stop thinking about how many weekly miles I'm doing and focus on how well I am balancing and sequencing stress and rest. It's harder to do than you might think, because we runners have a built-in paranoia, that somewhere, while we are resting, someone else is running, and working harder. But it's really a toxic thing to carry around. It's much better to know yourself, know when to push and when to rein it in - in short train mindfully -and be confident and proud of your work. Those are my words of free wisdom, or maybe just idle rambling, for the day. Hey, you get what you pay for. 😁
