Wow. Had I known there was such a whiny post sitting on the top of this page for so long I would have done something about it. Then again, if there is one thing that runners (me) can do well it’s whine. Runners – or at least me – can make excuses and complain about just about everything.
It’s too windy. The course was too hilly. The course had too many downhills. The course was too flat. Who can control the weather?
Yadda, yadda, yadda.
Anyway, here’s today’s excuse: I haven’t updated this page in so long because I actually took some days off from running. Two days to be exact. The plan was for one, but that morphed into two much to my chagrin.
Rest, of course, is the cornerstone to any solid training program. Muscles and all of that other running stuff work better when they are strong, fit and not fatigued. That’s where rest comes in. At the same time, rest is important to keep one from breaking down or getting hurt. So it makes sense that a smart runner should rest up from time to time.
Right?
Yet for some reason taking a day off is incredibly difficult. Why? Well, runners and athletes, by nature, are obsessive. They know the only way to stay ahead of the competition or to get closer to reaching a goal is to work hard. However, there is a point of no return. A racecar can only spend so much time in the red before it starts to fall apart.
That last sentence was the extent of my mechanical knowledge.
Nevertheless, the day extra day off this week made me bounce off the walls of my house and drive everyone within those confines crazy. Instead of running I did sit-ups on my exercise ball every five minutes. When I wasn’t beating the hell out of my abdominal muscles, I ate all the junk food I made a point to ignore during my training. Actually, I ate the junk food close to bedtime and before and after dinner.
Talk about a mess.
Aside from that, the initial, planned day off was very nice. My wife and I traveled to a swanky oceanfront hotel in Rehoboth Beach, went out for a nice dinner and soaked in the Jacuzzi in our suite. Almost instantly, all of my tired and overused muscles started to feel better. My hip was no longer creaky and my hamstrings felt pliable again.
But after the second day I wanted to put my head through a wall and go run. The problem was that I had too much to eat and I’m one of those guys who has to run on an empty stomach.
I did just that from Tuesday to Friday, cranking out easy, easy 10 to 11-mile runs at 6:50 to 7-minute pace. On Saturday morning I’m supposed to run the Northern Central Trail Marathon as a long run. I don’t plan on racing or taking the pace anywhere past 6:20 or engaging in anything too strenuous. Basically, I’m just going out for a long run with the hope of burning off some of the crap I’ve eaten in the past week of slovenly living and to pad my stats. Fourteen marathons is better than 13.
On another note, I have determined which races I plan on running in 2007. I’ll reveal those later.