The Long, Slow Return from the Doldrums

Ugg. March and April have not been good months for me. 'Ugg' is about the extent of detail I want to go into about that but I will elaborate on the fact that the doldrums have done a number on my running. I've been getting in my mile everyday but I'm nowhere near where I should be given that I have a marathon in 20 days.....and another in 35 days.....and another in 49 days. WHAT WAS I THINKING????

I know what I was thinking. I was thinking that long runs are good for my physical and mental health and that I simply won't have time to do long runs for a year or so after July 1st (start of fellowship) so I better get some marathons in before then. Solid logic, I thought, but now the prospect of three 26.2 mile jogs in the next 2 months seems overwhelming. I never regret running a marathon, no matter how it turns out or how hard it is, so I fully plan on running (...or walking...or crawling?) these races. (Do I sound like I am trying to convince myself? 'Cuz I am.)

If I look at the situation objectively, I should be fine. While my long runs have been few and far b/t in the past couple months, I've been consistently doing 1-2 long runs a month for about a year now (and probably for 6 out of 12 of the months of the past 3 years). My speedwork (while I haven't done any for over a week) is going well. My cross training and nutrition have gone completely to hell and honestly, I don't even have the heart to think about improving on those things dramatically over the next few weeks. It will take all my motivation just to get in 3 runs a week.

So, I need to scale back my expectations and just get some runs done. Maybe 4:15 is no longer realistic for Rockford on 5/15. Maybe it is. Who knows. I'm just going to try to plod along and get some running done. Just like I'm plodding along at work and in life in general. Again, all I will say is 'ugg'.

But yesterday, I went for a run outside and it was beautiful! Comfortable, fast, just a great run. My schedule said I should do 6 miles, w/ 3 @ 8:30 pace but the idea of that stressed me out so I just ran comfortably, picking it up a bit now and then. Ended up with 5.7 miles in 49:02 for an average pace of 8:36. Not bad! Sometimes taking the pressure off yourself is all you need to do to have a good run!

Looking forward to another beautiful day here in Chicago. This is running season, people! Get out there and enjoy:)