Sunday, July 23, 2006
Running to the couch
I've lost my motivation. The marathon is no longer in my plans this year. I was doing pretty well. I got up to 14 1/2 miles for a long run. But, I wasn't enjoying it. Here's why:
Every Friday night I had to watch what I eat and go to bed early. That stunk -- Chloe's sleep schedule is great now, and I want to spend Friday evenings having a nice dinner with Martin, watching a movie, having a glass of wine, and catching up from the week.
The person I was running with got an injury, so I did a few long runs by myself. The runs went OK, but I was board. I was thinking about all of the fun Martin and Chloe were having without me. For 14 miles, I thought, "Why am I doing this?"
I am a slow runner, which means that 14-15 miles takes me about 2 1/2 hours. By the time I stretch, chat with the other runners, head home and shower, half the day is gone. Half the day with Martin and Chloe...watching her experience new things, etc. I didn't want to miss out on that every weekend.
My weekday training was hit or miss. I was pretty good about getting out 3 times during the week, but my runs were only 30-40 minutes, depending on how long Chloe wanted to spend in her BOB. That is not enough for increasing the long run mileage.
So, the marathon is not in my plans this year. I'll still run, for fitness. But, right now my goal is to get back to a place where I am happy running, and where putting on my running shoes doesn't feel like a chore.
Maybe next year.
Every Friday night I had to watch what I eat and go to bed early. That stunk -- Chloe's sleep schedule is great now, and I want to spend Friday evenings having a nice dinner with Martin, watching a movie, having a glass of wine, and catching up from the week.
The person I was running with got an injury, so I did a few long runs by myself. The runs went OK, but I was board. I was thinking about all of the fun Martin and Chloe were having without me. For 14 miles, I thought, "Why am I doing this?"
I am a slow runner, which means that 14-15 miles takes me about 2 1/2 hours. By the time I stretch, chat with the other runners, head home and shower, half the day is gone. Half the day with Martin and Chloe...watching her experience new things, etc. I didn't want to miss out on that every weekend.
My weekday training was hit or miss. I was pretty good about getting out 3 times during the week, but my runs were only 30-40 minutes, depending on how long Chloe wanted to spend in her BOB. That is not enough for increasing the long run mileage.
So, the marathon is not in my plans this year. I'll still run, for fitness. But, right now my goal is to get back to a place where I am happy running, and where putting on my running shoes doesn't feel like a chore.
Maybe next year.
