Dealing with Bad Runs

Ever since I ran the Rock N' Roll USA Half Marathon back in March I have been having some pretty crappy runs. Yeah, I have had a few good runs but the majority of them have been absolutely dreadful. At first I thought it was because I was eating badly. What you put into your body affects how your body performs right? I thought a few weeks of eating too much junk food for a lifetime was the culprit of my craptastic runs. But after cleaning up my diet and loading up on some healthy eats there was no improvement.

I am still not sure why I have been having such sucky runs lately but I am not going to let it get me down. I am training for a triathlon that is three months away. I have been having great trainer rides and have been loving switching up training and adding in some variety. I know everyone goes through spells of crappy runs but this is the first time this has happened to me. There have been times where I have lacked the motivation to go out for a run but the physical part was always there. Lately, though, I feel like I have been fighting my body. I struggle to do runs at my normal easy/recovery pace.

It has occurred to me that this may be my body's way of telling me that it needs a break. My calves have been feeling pretty tight and swollen lately, but nothing has been feeling particularly sore or painful. I have been especially proactive over the last few days if this is the case. My foam roller has become my new best friend and I have spent more than one night icing myself to sleep in this dreadful heat. I have also been stretching any chance I get.

I know this spell of bad runs will eventually end, but for now I am going to not stress over it since running is not my priority right now. On the schedule for this week are mostly really short recovery jogs that will hopefully loosen up my legs. I am also going to ditch my garmin this week since I really don't want any reminders of how slow I'm running.