In spite of having announced my retirement from marathons after Rotterdam in April 2013, I had been aspiring to build up to another marathon this October 2014. My long runs had gone up to 2h45m (for approx 30km), but I was struggling to cover this much.
Last Sunday was the middle of a heat spell and less than half way through the run my right shoe was already completely soaked in sweat, the remaining distance to cover seemed endless... I decided to stop - and prepare properly for a 30km effort the following Sunday (today).
Today morning I started earlier on a make-or-break long run for my planned marathon. I would either resume the build-up in training or I would just have to give up. I drove to Tervuren Park about 15km from home, leaving a bottle filled with an energy drink at the doorstep, the idea being that I would pick up this drink in the middle of my run and go back to the car at Tervuren. 28 minutes into the run, on the first uphill stretch, the urge to stop again overwhelmed me, and stop is exactly what I did. I simply didn't feel like running for a long distance.
This of course spelt the end of my marathon aspirations. We're in the middle of summer. I'm suffering from severe lack of motivation, which, combined with the heat make preparation for a marathon in October very difficult indeed. I don't feel like doing it, I don't need to do it, so I'm not doing it.
Walking back, I realised that giving up was like a liberation. Interesting alternative scenarios opened up. I could take a break. I could take up cycling with occasional short runs whenever I feel like it. For three weeks in the upcoming hot Maltese August I could do a lot of swimming instead of running. I could resume the 2014 Scott2Run competition, for which I'm still in the running for a placing.
Five minutes into the walk back to the car I broke into a run, and, amazingly, I started running fast. The slow plod of my earlier run was still echoing in my head, but this new run was quick and sprightly. I had shaken off the burden of having to run long distances to build up to a marathon, and all of a sudden training has become interesting again, rather than a chore. I alternated some jogging with fast running for half an hour, for a decent total of close to an hour running today, and resolved for the next few months to mix it all up a bit.
Long term target - the second edition of the Wings for Life World Run in May (more on this in another blog post that's half completed). As for marathons... never say never again. Maybe winter would be a better time to run long distances.
I don't want to think about it.
Last Sunday was the middle of a heat spell and less than half way through the run my right shoe was already completely soaked in sweat, the remaining distance to cover seemed endless... I decided to stop - and prepare properly for a 30km effort the following Sunday (today).
Today morning I started earlier on a make-or-break long run for my planned marathon. I would either resume the build-up in training or I would just have to give up. I drove to Tervuren Park about 15km from home, leaving a bottle filled with an energy drink at the doorstep, the idea being that I would pick up this drink in the middle of my run and go back to the car at Tervuren. 28 minutes into the run, on the first uphill stretch, the urge to stop again overwhelmed me, and stop is exactly what I did. I simply didn't feel like running for a long distance.
This of course spelt the end of my marathon aspirations. We're in the middle of summer. I'm suffering from severe lack of motivation, which, combined with the heat make preparation for a marathon in October very difficult indeed. I don't feel like doing it, I don't need to do it, so I'm not doing it.
Walking back, I realised that giving up was like a liberation. Interesting alternative scenarios opened up. I could take a break. I could take up cycling with occasional short runs whenever I feel like it. For three weeks in the upcoming hot Maltese August I could do a lot of swimming instead of running. I could resume the 2014 Scott2Run competition, for which I'm still in the running for a placing.
Five minutes into the walk back to the car I broke into a run, and, amazingly, I started running fast. The slow plod of my earlier run was still echoing in my head, but this new run was quick and sprightly. I had shaken off the burden of having to run long distances to build up to a marathon, and all of a sudden training has become interesting again, rather than a chore. I alternated some jogging with fast running for half an hour, for a decent total of close to an hour running today, and resolved for the next few months to mix it all up a bit.
Long term target - the second edition of the Wings for Life World Run in May (more on this in another blog post that's half completed). As for marathons... never say never again. Maybe winter would be a better time to run long distances.
I don't want to think about it.
