Liv to run

Lots of random ranting, whining, and attempts at being humourous as I run, run, run in pursuit of higher mileage and better races.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

Hard and fast

I miss easy runs. I really, really do.

I thought I would get in at least one a week, around my three days of challenging running. But it's just not happening. Between working nights and social outings and the days when I bike for the double pleasure of exercising and commuting, I'm just not working them in. So I'm running three days a week - always hard and fast, or long.

I need that easy run. I need it for my head. I want to run away from the crazy whirlwind that my life has inadvertently become. I need to think about things in general, not just "only one more mile/repeat/30 minutes, then I'm done..."

The odd (good) part is, I still really look forward to my runs, I get super excited about doing them - but it's while I'm actually doing them that they suck. Because they're just. So. Hard.

Gah. I just keep telling myself it's making me stronger. It's getting me PR-ready. To get faster, you have to run faster. Right?

I'm just a little nostalgic for them, that's all - I miss my easy runs.

9 Comments:

  • At 2:10 a.m., Blogger tryathlete said…

    Treat yourself to one every now and again!

     
  • At 5:50 a.m., Blogger Jack said…

    I had an old (91) runner and (still) racer tell me this year that if you train hard enough you can rest and enjoy yourself during the race. I've never trained hard enough to prove this or not, but it sounds like a worthy goal.

     
  • At 10:14 a.m., Blogger Jess said…

    I agree with "Tryathlete"; treat yourself to an easier run every once in awhile.

    BTW, thanks for the kind compliments on my blog's b-day. It was much appreciated!

     
  • At 12:47 p.m., Blogger mouse said…

    the crappy thing is that even when you do get your PR, and you think, "ok, now i'm fast. I can enjoy it," you then start wanting to go faster.

    I agree, learning to enjoy the hard runs is your best bet. totally not what you wanted to hear, I know. :)

     
  • At 3:27 p.m., Blogger Hilda said…

    That is not what I've read, but still what everyone seems to be doing. Running is always related to everyone with speed, but xeasy and recovery runs are mentioned always as other types of running, as part of a good training, believe me :)

     
  • At 3:54 p.m., Blogger onepinkfuzzy said…

    the fun thing? soon, these will the the easy runs you miss :)

     
  • At 4:42 p.m., Blogger Lance Notstrong said…

    I agree with Susan. If your schedule says "4 days a week" and you can only hit 3 of them, sometimes it's best to knock off a hard run in place of an easy one. You don't want to burn out.

     
  • At 6:42 p.m., Blogger Rice said…

    I’m in the same boat with you. I was doing 10 miles today and REALLY missing the slow running. I near died at the end. I had to go sit in the shade of a tree for ten minutes. The real kicker is that I still had nearly 5k of cool down running to do to get back home. This is where I found that “hey I can still run” Its not all kill yourself chasing the monster. I was able to use that slow cool down run to collect my thought’s, I didn’t have to time breaths, pace, stride, form or pray for death. I was glad it was there.

    So that would be my advice. Don’t skimp on your training, just tack on another easy 10-15min on the end to collect yourself..

    Cheers.

    Rice.

     
  • At 11:02 p.m., Blogger SRR said…

    Can you please share that excitment, Liv?!

     

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