When I sit down to sketch out a new marathon training plan for myself, I have the tendency to get overly ambitious. I schedule high mileage weeks, multiple types of speed sessions per week and obsess over doing it all perfectly.
The second I miss a workout or two because of bad weather or bad choices, I start to doubt my abilities and think my spring marathon goal is too lofty.
After a few days of thinking I’ll give up on a PR I have a talk with myself, rewrite my training plan, and take myself out into the cold for a directionless run.
Inevitably, the talk works. The positive words and thankful thoughts flow from my mind on the run and take root in my heart. In what feels like an instant, running makes me feel like the luckiest girl on the planet and I once again believe in myself and my goals.
Sometimes all it takes is one run to turn everything around and get back on track.
How’s your winter running going? Have you hit any speed bumps or are you sailing through?
I can so sympathize with this. I could have a week of great runs and then one bad run (or missed run) and I’m convinced I’ll NEVER be able to run that marathon! My training for Boston has been going pretty well so far, but that’s because it’s the early, low mileage weeks. We’ll see how I feel once it kicks up in a week or two!
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I am still coming back from a stress fracture so I am taking it slow, BUT this tough winter has made me having a lot of runs on the treadmill coming back. I don’t mind too much but sometimes it would be nice to enjoy a nice run outside!
So far so good! My mental issues with the treadmill are (apparently) gone and after a fantastic marathon training season and some fun unstructured months, I’m loving training again 🙂 I love those kind of runs, where you go out there feeling mixed up and come back with a sense of renewed purpose. They’re the best!
Winter running is so tough – mentally! Since there’s a higher chance of missing workouts due to weather, I have to work extra hard to keep my mental game calm! This winter has definitely been a practice in flexibility for me 🙂
Good Job! This weather can be brutal. I been doing treadmill runs in the morning during the week, but I can wait until I finally can get back on the road! I think that’s the biggest speed bump for me. Not being able to get up, tight my shoes and just go for a run around my neighborhood. I mean I could… it the pitch black.
I’m still working on building my mileage back up after a few weeks of ‘off season’. Getting back into things is hard, feels so far from where I was before the down time but I know that in the end the rest was good. So now it’s just trying to be consistent and push through.
Ehhh I feel like my winter running has barely even begun – I’ve done a lot more training indoors this year and I swear I don’t get as good a workout as when I’m burning up the roads or the trails. But I do the same thing, the minute a workout doesn’t go my way, I’m all about the doubt. We got this!
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My winter running doesn’t go well actually, ’cause the weather this winter has been just terrible. Hope the weather would be better soon, so that I can enjoy myself again in running and the nature.