Last week and this week of marathon training has been HARD.
Forget the happy go lucky Facebook statuses about beautiful
16 mile runs. Forget the cheerful Instagrams from my 6:30 a.m. workouts. Yes, I
love those moments. But overall, training is damn tiring and I am certainly not
perfect. This is my first time training for a marathon and I’m still trying to
find my way.
So I need to confess. I woke up this morning when my alarm
went off at 5 a.m., stood up, and OUCH. My legs were really unhappy with me. My
quality time with the foam roller has been seriously slacking. It’s summer and it's hot out and
while I know I should wear my compression socks to bed, sometimes I just don’t
feel like it damnit. Stretching takes time and is boring. Yes, I admit that
these are all things that I am consciously deciding to skimp on, and I shouldn’t
be. For these reasons, I was sore as all hell this morning (those Grotto steps at
Gracie Mansion are no joke, people).
I had been planning on running 9 miles alone in Central Park.
It was dark out. I was tired. My body is exhausted from two consecutive weeks
running over 30 miles. I know that teaching your body to run despite being
tired is all part of marathon training, because I’ll sure as hell be tired at
some point during a 26.2 mile run.
But not having Tiffanie or November Project waiting
for me outside of my dark and comfy apartment, not having that helpful
motivator called accountability, combined with absolute exhaustion and
soreness convinced me to crawl back into my bed.
I reset my alarm for 6:00 a.m., telling myself that I would
at least get in a quality loop of the park- closer to 6 miles than my
prescribed 9, but better than nothing.
As I crawled back into bed, my legs seized up in cramps.
Uhm, ow? Was it a sign I should just skip today’s run? Or was I just looking
for an excuse? These are the things I asked myself as I dozed back off.
Alarm goes off at 6:00. Why, why, why? Typically, I have no
problem hopping out of bed when my alarm goes off. Overall, I’m one of those annoying morning
people. So on the mornings when I feel this sluggish, I try to listen to my
body, clearly telling me that it’s not feelin’ rested. But I had a happy hour
planned for tonight, and a beer pong tournament, and I wanted to be able to eat
nachos and chicken fingers and potato skins at the bar knowing that I had
gotten a solid run in!
“Well, maybe I’ll just sleep a littttttle longer, get out on
the road by 6:45, and at least get in 3 miles. Seriously, I need at least a
little cardio before work or the day is going to drag.”
Alarm re-set for 6:30. Doze off again.
Alarm goes off at 6:30. This run is just not going to
happen, and I finally need to admit it to myself. I’m disappointed. This isn’t
like me. When I know I have to get something done, when I know that I have 9
miles to run, I do it, no questions asked. I’ve skipped a morning run before,
but only because I knew if push came to shove I could get it done after work.
This morning, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to make it up later.
Anyone out there have any words of wisdom?
