I've just discovered that I don't have to train for something all the time.
And since I'm not, and since it's about a billion degrees out and churning out my morning 3 or 5 miles feels like drowning in hot lava, I've been taking a break.
Either no running, short running, or nothing at all for a few weeks, then I'll gear up to get ready for the fall (fall should be here sometime in late November...).
Now that my hips are all old and decrepit, I think I have to be pretty choosy about races and miles and training plans. In the interest of keeping my hips as long as possible, I'm trying out a new strategy: breaks after races. After four on the fourth, I realized that I was just sweating and plowing through humid air in the morning, and with no real goal. So I backed off for awhile. I am sometimes too lazy to go to the gym, so I did a few short runs on those days, but otherwise I've spent the last few weeks doing strength and cross-training.
If this goes well, then in the future I'll maybe intersperse training for a specific race with periods of non-running cross training to reduce the wear and tear on my hips. But that's just speculation for now: I might find out that it's hard to ramp back up, or that it makes me MORE injury prone. So we shall see over the next few weeks. It's an experiment!
I hear you. I have been on the injury roller coaster for about 2-1/2 years now. Seems that I've not been able to go more than 4-5 months without something sidelining me for a good 6-8 weeks, often times happening right *before* a goal race. (My marathon PR is from January 2013. Sigh.) After my most recent injury (May), I decided that I was going to get healthy and then ramp up VERRRRRRRY slowly, additionally mixing in cross-training (swimming, spin class, strengthening exercises + classes like Bodypump) and some trail running (once a week). It's been GREAT so far. And the short races here have been really nice. I think your plan sounds perfect, especially for the summer months in NOLA when truly, it's all about survival.
ReplyDeleteWhen the going gets hot, the hot go swimming. ;)
ReplyDeleteHope your hips are holding up!
I think it makes sense to back off on training when you aren't training for a specific race. Especially when it's so ridiculously hot and humid in NOLA! I tend to focus a lot on running from April/May - October and then I take a break and don't run all that much from Oct - April because I just don't love running enough to run in bitterly cold temps. It is hard to come back after a break but it's also nice to focus on something different.
ReplyDeleteIf you're going to have down time then the humid months are definitely the time to do it. There's nothing worse than flogging yourself for no real purpose so enjoy your off-season.
ReplyDeleteSeriously. If it was as hot here in the summer as it is there, I predict I would NOT be for-realsies training in the summer, like, ever.
ReplyDelete