I
have come to realize that I need to have goals or else my running and lifting
tend to have no direction whatsoever. Sure, it is fun to have days where I can
just do what I “feel” like doing training wise. But too many days like that in
a row and things start to go south for me.
I
trained for my 10k for about 2 months. I know that is a long time for a race of
that length, but it was great having a plan for each day. Now I am back to
the point where I don’t have any set goals and no plan. I’m in No Man’s Land.
My
lower body lifting has definitely taken a backseat during these past few weeks.
At this point, I am only doing lower body every eight days or so. The reason is
because it really aggravates my IT band, and then it is sore of the rest of the
day. It’s very frustrating because
while my lower body wasn’t super strong, it was certainly stronger than it is
now. It is so frustrating because I have all the motivation and energy in the
world to lift, it’s just so achy after that it doesn’t seem worth it. I do my
due diligence (or “due dil as Paul calls it) stretching and foam rolling and
all that jazz. That definitely helps on a running day but not so much for squatting day.
If I
truly had to pick a lifting goal right now, it would be to get my lower body
stronger. But I feel like this nagging injury is holding me back.
As
for running goals, I feel lost! I want to run a half in the spring, but it’s
too early to train for that. I could do a half or a full in the meantime, but I
don’t want to run a RACE in the winter. I do run outside in the freezing
cold, but I don’t want to race in the freezing cold!
There is the option to travel… We have A LOT of credit from United Airlines
from when we had to cancel our Hawaii trip, and it has to get used somehow! I
guess I could fly somewhere quick and race on a weekend and be back at my desk teaching the next day!? That seems really
stressful! And expensive, even if the flight is covered.
I
don’t know what the point of this post was other than to just get my thoughts
out! If you have any ideas for me- lifting related, IT Band related, or how to
set winter running goals when I don’t want to race in the cold- let me know!
(Sorry
if I come off as a curmudgeon. After rereading this, I realize I should have titled it "I want to make goals, but instead, I make excuses.")
Do they always have to be fitness goals? I feel ya in not having any though. It's nice to be working towards something. Right now my main goals involve work and my blog…that keeps me pretty busy. Workouts are just nice and steady.
ReplyDeleteWell yeah I kind of want them to be fitness goals because the whole point is to have some focus in my training. My work goal is to get two more piano lessons in my schedule!
DeleteCould you try to concentrate on another sport when it's cold. The goal would be to help your running but with something other than running (spinning, swimming, etc)?
ReplyDeleteI definitely could, but I don't want to. :)
DeleteHere's a great solution: use your miles to fly to Florida and run a January or February race!! :)
ReplyDeleteI am actually going to look into that!
DeleteBummer on the lower body lifting - so frustrating to not be able to workout like you want to. I know that the Cowtown marathon in Ft. Worth is the last weekend of February - they also have a half and I think a 10K - last year the weather was nice for running and it's easy to fly into DFW.
ReplyDeleteThanks for that tip! Easy travel is key... Especially for short weekends.
Delete