Choosing the Rest Day

This week has been hectic to say the least. I started both my spring semester and my internship at Corrigan Sports (they are in charge of the Oakland Running Festival and the Baltimore Running Festival). While I didn't have that much actually going on I also have been working on moving back in to my apartment. With each new semester brings a new schedule to figure out and adjust to, which has proven to be the most stressful. The weather this week didn't make things any easier. Monday was icy, Tuesday a heat wave and sunny, Wednesday stormy, Thursday windy, and Friday windy and snowy. Tuesday was the only day this week that was ideal, or even normal, for training. The only downside was that the combo of ice/rain on Monday and warm temps on Tuesday made the trails a complete mud pit.

Due to the weather I ended up switching around some of my workouts, which only proved to add more stress to my week. I know this may not sound like an incredibly stressful week to many but I don't do well with change and like to stick to my routines. Despite not having much actual work this week I've been busy cleaning, unpacking, and getting organized for the semester. I normally plan for the first week of the semester to be a rest week so I don't have to worry about a heavy load of workouts on top of everything else. I spent a good deal of time (way too much time) this week trying to figure out when to fit in workouts in my schedule that worked with the weather.

Lucky for me I have off on Friday's. I slept in yesterday and woke up to a light dusting of snow. I wasn't sure whether I wanted to do my long run on Friday or Saturday but decided on Friday since I was meeting my mom for some stuff I left at home and we were meeting right near one of my favorite places to run. I ended up leaving my Garmin at my apartment on accident so I had to use the mile markers on the trail and my basic sports watch. I figured I went about 8.55 miles in 75 minutes. This run was not easy but it was a really great run. I pushed myself the whole time and was spent by the end.

Compression sleeves, legs up, sweet rest day

I had every intention of doing my scheduled run today but after almost two weeks with no rest day and 5 straight days of new semester stress I opted for the rest day. Mentally and physically I am exhausted. I had some heel pain and shin pain throughout the week that both only lasted one day and don't seem to be a problem. Still, I don't want to push it. Even on the days when I don't want to run I can normally find a way to motivate myself to get out there. Today though I truly don't want to. It is important to me to like training for events and not dread my runs. If taking an unplanned rest day is necessary to keep me motivated and enjoying training then it is not a lost day.

Enjoying My Rest Week

I wasn't originally planning on making this week a rest week but between all of the terrible runs I had last week and how tired I was at the beginning of the week I switched moved my rest week up a week. Now that the week is more than half way over I am sure I made the right decision. So far I have enjoyed two rest days and have slept in almost every morning. All runs have been easy and in general I have been more relaxed this week. I am taking advantage of my extra time to take care of tasks around the apartment that I have been putting off for weeks. I have also knocked out all of my homework and have gotten a head start on next week's work.

Tomorrow I am running 10 miles and for the first time in weeks I am not stressed or anxious about that number. I know I can run 10 miles and I am actually looking forward to the run. Last week's 14 mile long run gave me so much anxiety that the idea of running 16 this week completely overwhelmed me. After a few days of rest and relaxation, though, I am getting excited about tackling my long runs again.

I am also looking forward to a weekend without traveling anywhere. Every weekend since I started school at the end of August I have been going home to deal with random things. For the first time this semester I am just staying at my apartment and hanging out. I am going to finish cleaning up my apartment and do simple things like make pancakes for breakfast and watch a movie. I feel like I have been go-go-go for so long lately that all I want to do is sit on the couch with a chai tea latte and watch a good movie.

It can be really easy to get caught up in training and to get the mentality to always do more. I constantly feel like I am not running enough so the thought of taking a rest week daunted me a little bit but it is proving to be exactly what I need. What I am most surprised by is how much stress can affect training. I started the week so stressed I thought I was going to have a breakdown, especially after last week, but now I feel ready to tackle my three weeks of peak training.

When Exhaustion Sets In

For the past few days I have been abnormally tired. I enjoy sleeping in but I have trained myself to  wake up early to get in workouts. I go to bed early and even take frequent naps if I am really tired. Lately though I am to the point where all I want to do is sleep. My body is fighting back.

Today was supposed to be my last hard workout before Sunday's triathlon. It was also supposed to be my last day before my rest week starts. I woke up this morning sore and even more tired than normal. Almost instantly I decided it was better to start my rest week one day early than dig myself into an even deeper hole.

I do think some of this is due to my lupus. Every once in awhile I get tired to the point where I just need to sleep pretty much all day long to catch up. But I regularly get between 8-9 hours of sleep a night so it's not like I am really sleep deprived.

Ever since my first triathlon in July I have really upped both the duration and intensity of my workouts. I started doing two-a-days at least three times a week, with normally at least two days on bricks or other forms of combined workouts. I started adding in weekly long runs and track workouts, and changed my bike focus from long and easy to short and intense.

It really comes as no surprise that I am so tired. My body has been working really hard and deserves some time off. But I don't want to completely stop training since I am running a marathon in 11 weeks. Instead of panicking that my training was going to be ruined I tried to make a rest/recovery plan to get be back to normal.

Extra rest day
My planned rest day was on Saturday but I am taking today off as well. I want to feel refreshed on Sunday and ready to race, not super tired and sluggish. I will be using my extra time to start packing for school and take care of some things that have been put on the back-burner lately.

Super easy workouts
I don't want to take the next few days completely off but I will be keeping my workouts as easy as possible. I want to keep my muscles loose and fresh and ready to race. Not is not the time to try to build fitness. All of the work is done.

Eating the right foods
I started taking a multivitamin back in May but that is not enough to give the body all the micronutrients that it needs. Being a vegetarian I do struggle to get enough protein so that is going to be a focus over these next few days. Primarily though I am going to cut out junk food and try to eat as naturally as possible. My body feels the best after eating natural, wholesome foods.

Stretch, foam roll, compress
Yesterday I got my first pair of compression socks in the mail that I have been living in since I got them. My lower legs feel so much better than normal after track workouts and I credit that to running in the socks. My legs in general are really tight and sore so stretching and foam rolling and becoming a part of my daily routine. I am going to be taking full advantage of tomorrow yoga class as well.

Anything I missed?