Did the central park loop in 44:24 this morning (7:24 pace; 168 avg HR). This is the same loop I did last week in a sluggish 51:24. No doubt in my mind now that I was overtraining.
Beast gave me some good advice, that basically if you can’t get your heart-rate into a good training zone within 15-20 minutes, to bail out of the run (unless you’re specifically doing active recovery runs — slow runs to help blood circulation and muscle recovery, not improve your cardio fitness). I think that is well taken.
I try to think of myself as a “tough guy” and try to push, push, push myself when it comes to running, but now I’m thinking that is a bit of macho foolishness if it leads to overtraining. This was my first hard run since the half-marathon Saturday and I think it was a better run for it … earlier I would have tried to go out and run hard on Monday.
Now I’m thinking my body is more like a knife, and I should only use it to attack the hard runs when it is razor-sharp. Trying to do so with a dull knife will only lead to frustration.
I’ve been there too, wanting to run my socks off every time out. Now I listen to my legs and lungs and go as fast as they feel like going on training runs. The distance becomes the constant and I am satis fied to finish. All that goes by the wayside on race day though. I arrive psyched and ready for fast forward.