I know, I know… I still have not posted my race recap from last week. Things have been very stressful and I’ve been going through some ups and downs in my personal life. Actually, my personal life has been all ups. My work life has really been the downs. I think the stress of these last few weeks has really gotten to me and my training. Last week just didn’t feel right. I was hesitant to get out the door to go for my runs and when I did, I was having trouble keeping the paces I was trying to hit. Stress in one aspect of my life has a way of seeping into all of the other parts.
Also, yesterday, this happened:
Anyways, I am only 4 days out from the Holy Half… last week was peak training, but I don’t think my body got the memo on that.
Monday: Rest + Yoga
Felt pretty good and was excited for some speed work the next day. I was feeling fresh after my race during the weekend and was ready to run.
Tuesday: Speed work… only did 2.25 miles + yoga
I went out to do some intervals and was feeling pretty great. I had my headphones in and after I had finished with my 10 minute warm up, Frank called me to tell me that he had gotten a job with NEON (National Ecological Observatory Network). His current job runs out of funding soon (being a scientist sucks… our lives are based on government funding cycles). He had been applying for stuff all over for a while and he had finally gotten one. I tried to continue running, but I had a ton of questions, so I just went home.
Wednesday: 5ish miles
My run group meets on wednesdays to do a 5k, but I decided to get a few extra miles in. I left the house, but my Garmin was acting up. It didn’t connect until I was at least a half mile into the run, and even then, it was telling me I was going 11 minute miles, which I was most certainly not. I think I ran about 5 miles…
Thursday: 0 miles… unintentional rest day
I was just really unmotivated. I was anxious about telling my boss about Frank’s job, since it means relocation for us. I was supposed to do yoga and core work. I did nothing.
Friday: Another unintentional rest day + yoga
This unmotivated day, I was supposed to do a Tempo run. I just didn’t. At least I did some yoga…
Saturday: 4.5 miles Tempo
I did a 10 minute warm up, then ran 20 minutes at tempo, which felt pretty terrible, and then a 10 minute warm down. I kept getting a persistent stomach cramps. I felt pretty discouraged after this run and hoped for a better long run the next day.
Sunday: 12 miles long run + Yoga
My long run went much better. I had some trouble getting out the door, but once out, I was good. I listened to podcasts and kinda cleared my mind a bit. I kept a 9:35 pace, which felt really comfortable and good. I was pretty happy that I hadn’t talked myself out of the run once I was out.
Total milage: 23.75 – not really what I was hoping for…
Oh well. I guess bad weeks happen. I just don’t like that it happened the week before a race. I’m hoping that I can refocus and have a good taper week, although things have been pretty stressful around here thus far. 😦
The good news is that Frank got a really awesome permanent job, which means no grant cycles, no feverishly looking for a job because the last one is about to run out. He can keep this one for as long as he wants to. We will be moving to Manhattan, KS (The Little Apple) in May. I’ll be coming back and forth a lot as I finish my PhD, but home base will be there. Kansas wasn’t really where I dreamed of moving, but it’s actually really pretty.
And it’s only 7 hours from the Rocky Mountains. I can feel some serious trail running in my future!
How do you run when you’re stressed out? Have you ever had a terrible week in the peak of your training? How do you stop stress from taking over?
She Runs the Wasatch 
Congrats on your hubby’s new job! It sounds like life is throwing you a lot of changes – exciting and scary! I look forward to hearing about your new adventure!
Try not to worry so much. Bad training weeks don’t really mean much, honestly. They just happen. Everyone tends to overanalyze them to death but they are just a natural part of the cycle. I’ve always kinda thought that having a bad training week right before your race is actually good luck 🙂
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Let’s hope it’s good luck. It sure didn’t feel like it! I’m pretty excited about the move. I’ll be glad to be somewhere a little warmer. 🙂
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Let me tell you a little story. Have you heard of former gymnast Shawn Johnson? I read her biography a couple years ago, and she talks about her experience waiting for the balance beam final of the 2008 Olympics to begin. She was in the practice area warming up her beam routine, and she just could not get it right. She kept falling off every time she tried to practice her moves – and this is a girl who almost never falls. Her coach made her keep getting back up on that beam but she kept falling off every time and she was almost in tears. Mind you, this was moments before she was supposed to go out and do this routine in front of millions of people.
And then she went out there and nailed the routine and won the gold medal. It’s not the exact same situation but I think you get the point – sometimes the best performance of your life is waiting at the end of a bad day/week/whatever. Trust in your training!! 🙂
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I think my stress culminates on the week of my peak training. Usually I listen to my head and body and let myself take it easier. Real life stress and fatigue sometimes leads me to get injured if I don’t back off a bit.
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Yeah, I feel like nothing works well when I’m stressed, so pushing hard doesn’t even seem worth it.
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I am sending you the biggest hug right now. It’s like we have the same brain today! What is up with last week!? So this means that things get better from here for the both of us right? (And hopefully that will include no more snow!) I hope this week is so much brighter for you. ❤
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Thanks! I really need this week to start getting better. It’s already been a train wreck, so I’m hoping this race goes ok. I think if it snows again, I might lose it and move back to Florida. Haha.
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Congrats on your hubby’s job! Little Apple is hilarious. 😀
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Thanks! Everything they do in Manhattan is “Little Apple, Big _____”. I think it’s pretty hilarious. I’m guessing this is a pretty small and rural place. lol
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