Burnout, “Only” 10 Miles, and Feeling Good

The title pretty much sums up the past week of my running.

First, the “Burnout.” Last Monday I barely rolled out of bed to run a 5 miler. I was exhausted still from the 20 miler on Saturday. I wondered why I was getting up and why did I have to run that day. It was a classic case of training burnout. I’d had it. I was done.

Somehow I managed to get up and run. Surprisingly, I was not as sore as I expected to be that morning. Monday done. Next up, Wednesday and a 6 to 7 miler. Again, this was not a good run. I was tired and didn’t have any motivation to get out and run. But, again, through determination, I made it through that one. Thursday came and I swore I wasn’t getting out of bed. I was sleeping in and I was through with running. However, I did get up and did end up running 4 miles that morning. Thank God for Friday and resting. If I had to run that day, I would have been done with it for good!

And now onto Saturday.

I had an epiphany on Friday afternoon when I asked by my coworkers, “How far do you have tomorrow?” And my reply was “Just a 10 miler.”

JUST A 10 MILER?

At what point did running 10 miles become so casual? I realize I’ve been putting in some long distance runs, but “Just a 10 miler?” Well, it turns out that 10 miler was every bit as challenging as running that distance sounds. I hated the first 5 miles of this one. HATED THEM! Even thought about cutting it short. All I kept thinking about was getting home and going back to sleep. Well, thankfully I didn't turn back. I trudged on and I ended up really enjoying the last part of the run.

So, lessons learned from last week: 1) A 20 mile run will kick your butt. 2) There is no need to overdo it with running the week after a run that long. 3) Even the following Saturday, you will still be worn out!

Monday arrived and I was up and ready to go. For the first time in over a week, I wasn’t exhausted when I got out of bed. I met up with the group at the high school and we went out for our 5 mile run. I felt great the entire time! I was able to maintain a pretty fast pace for the duration.

The burned out feeling was gone and I am ready to take on the week! On Saturday, we have our longest run before the taper, 22 miles this Saturday morning. I can’t wait! And, I’ve learned my lesson from last week, no running next Monday and take it EASY for the rest of the week (and beyond). After all, Columbus is only 3-1/2 weeks away!