The Weekly (RUN)Down | Week 15
Running for Fun
The last few weeks, haven’t really gone my way..
Week 13 (April 8-14) I got sick and only got 11km of running in, Week 14 I was still sick and missed 6 out of 7 days I could have potentially run.
After 10 days of rest and recovery I couldn’t take it anymore, I needed some endorphins. Still a little runny-nosed, but mostly healthy(ier).. I decided to get outside and enjoy the weather. But I knew just continuing on in my program would probably make me feel pretty emotional about missing 10 days and not making any progress.
So, I made the choice to get outside and “play”. No plan, no paces, no focus, just enjoy running and moving.
I threw on a podcast about how unlikely it is to lose fitness in 7-14 days of rest and I drove down to Fish Creek Park where I strung together 8km of single track fun. The podcast helped me remember it’s okay to rest when you’re sick, and the time spent running through the trees on my childhood trails was quite therapeutic.
I came home feeling happy, and like I did something purposeful.
This got me thinking, when training for a marathon so much of your time running is spent grinding, focusing, and getting through workouts. It doesn’t leave much room to just play and enjoy running. I know myself well enough to know I value fun A LOT, and if I’m always doing focused, intentional “training” runs I’m not going to create a long term sustainable practice out of this. So I made a commitment, once a week I will play running. This could look like trail runs, impromptu track workouts, going to run clubs, leaving the watch at home and going off feel, etc.
I know this is a practice of commitment and discipline. truthfully, I’ve been feeling worried about having lapses of integrity and losing progress on my training. I don’t want to feel down on myself for not feeling like I can commit or stay disciplined long enough to see my goal to it’s end. Introducing more “play time” should allow me to think more about running and less about this underlying fear of failing myself.
Now, this is how I played in the last two weeks;
8km run with brand new trail shoes, no focus, no pace goals
2 runs in one day (felt sluggish the first time I got out, so I went out again and ran until it felt good)
Got my bike ready for some road/gravel rides
Started planning some routes for my trip to Vancouver
Signed up for a July 10k with Mel
Now that I’m committed to fun. I’m feeling excited to move into some longer runs!
24 Weeks until I take the start line!