Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Embracing the Off-Season

After two weeks of doing next to nothing I am starting to get a little restless. Since the marathon all I've done is physical therapy and the occasional swim. From January through November I was training for something with no more than a week break. While I didn't feel burned out at all while training for the marathon, my lack of desire to do anything since it means I needed this break.

Because I am someone who loves having a schedule to follow, the idea of an off-season is not completely thrilling to me. I find it really hard to actually head out for a run unless it's on my calendar. At the same time, I realize the importance of taking some time off from hard training for both my body and my mind. And to be honest, I don't really want to be in hard training right now. I am so sick of swimming and counting down the days left until Christmas break because it means my PE class will be over and I can finally take a break from the pool.
One of the delicious creations I made

The good (and bad) thing is that my knee is still not back to 100% yet. I have been going to physical therapy for a week and a half and have already seen a lot of improvement in both strength and flexibility. On Monday, I even ran for 8 whole minutes with no pain! I have been cleared to start running again but no more than three miles. I have no desire to really do any more than that right now anyway.

So what's my plan for the rest of the year? To not have one, of course! Except that's not entirely true. First and foremost I am going to continue physical therapy until my knee is as good as it can be. I am going to take running one day at a time but hopefully get back to being able to run somewhat regularly. I haven't entirely decided what I want to do in the spring yet but it likely will involve running and I want to have a decent base before jumping into back into training.


Aside from running I want to get back into strength training. I want my muscles to be strong and healthy when I decide to start training again and now is the time to do it. I typically just wing it in the weight room and wander about with no direction. As fun as this sometimes is, I think the way to make the most out of doing strength training is to have a plan. I don't have a plan yet so if you know of any good strength plans send them my way!

I am completely swamped with school work for the next four weeks so working out will not be my priority. I actually like that my off-season matches up with the end of the semester because then I have more time to study and prepare for finals.

PS. Tomorrow I'm going for my first post-marathon run. Wish me luck!

2 comments :

  1. I'm glad it works out you will have more time for school, hopefully that can help the stress level! I think you are being really smart about all this. Get healthy and recovered NOW and then have a freaking awesome kick ass winter base building and getting ready to really rock some races next year!

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  2. Your priorities are in order and you will be stronger for it! Good luck in the off season.

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