Focusing on the Bigger Picture

After running New York I spent some time thinking about what I wanted to focus on in 2014. I knew I didn't want to run another fall marathon so I could turn all my attention to triathlons over the summer but my plans for the spring were up in the air. Initially I wanted to run a spring half and try to PR. When I started mapping things out I started to feel stressed. My knee was still bothering me but if I wanted to try to PR I would have to start building a base soon. Looking at everything I felt overwhelmed and that should have been my first sign not to do a spring half. I liked the idea of taking it easy in the spring and building a really solid base for triathlon training but I felt guilty about it. I'm not really sure why but I felt this pressure to run a spring half.

I haven't run in two and a half weeks and I am completely okay with that. I've been going to a hot vinyasa yoga class this week (post to come!) but that's about all I've been doing on the exercise front. Since I haven't run, I have no idea how my knee is doing. I haven't been foam rolling, stretching or doing my exercises so I probably haven't made too much progress. I am picking these things back up this week though.

I mentioned in my last post that I entered the lottery for the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler. Well I got in! I will be doing this race with my mom, my cousin, and his wife. Even though there isn't too much difference between running a half and a 10 miler I feel so much pressure lifted off of me having this as my main goal for the spring. I ran one 10 miler last spring and I definitely think I can PR but to be honest that isn't that important to me. Yes I like to race, and yes I'm going to run to the best of ability that day but I'm also going to be more relaxed with my training.

I just listened to an interview with Kara Goucher where she talked about being injured for so much of 2013. She says she was in such a hurry to get ready for the next race that she was training at a level her body wasn't ready for. This really clicked with me. I have some big goals for 2014 but I won't be able to achieve them if I don't let my body heal 100%. I don't like being injured but I need to think more long term.

For now I'm going to fill my weeks with fun cross training to enjoy the off season. I do want to start running again but I don't want to worry about not running fast enough or far enough. I'm going to do whatever I can now to get my body ready for what I want it to do come August and September. Right now the only running I want to do is trail running so that's what I'm going to do. I don't want to pay attention to anything other than how beautiful the snow covered trails are.