Something happened about a month ago.
A fourth of the way into the second 'mesocycle' of my training plan... something that was supposed to add a shit-ton of tempo-pace running to my training... I ran into foul weather.
Literally.
Temperature in the hills suddenly dipped, for one, and while I could have dealt with that alone, it started raining every other day. I missed a run on account of a particularly nasty thundershower, so I googled 'Weather Gods' that afternoon, got a quick-and-dirty list from this page, and proceeded to spend a goodly amount of time hurling clever insults at them. It was all a lot of fun.
The next day, I saw a window of opportunity (when it was merely drizzling) and set out for a 23k. That turned out to be an ambush of epic proportions by the previously abused weather gods. I was at the 11.5k turning point, right in the middle of the killing ground, when those guys opened up on me with every bucket they had.
Picture a wet cat. Now picture that wet cat shivering in a freezer. Yes...I was that wet cat.
I staggered back to my room, dried myself up and then proceeded to pray spiritedly to this rather more comprehensive list of deities . Thankfully, at least on Wikipedia, there are more Health Gods than Weather Gods and I did not, in fact, fall overtly sick from that horrific run.
The next day, I knew that something was off. The rains had ceased. But, for the first time in forever, I didn't feel like going for a run.
I didn't have to think long to know what this was. Impending burnout. To be frank, I had been expecting it. I had been sticking to the mileages, but was doing some killing elevations. Effort-wise, every run felt as if it was 25 to 30 % longer than what it actually was...
It was time to make good on the promise I had made myself when I started out on this schedule.
Swallow your pride. Forget your machismo.
Rest.
I would love to tell you that it was difficult to take days off, because that would be in tune with this image of a badass runner that I keep trying to cultivate about myself, but honestly... I was relieved. It was true that I was missing some mileage in a high-stakes training cycle. But those late mornings and those afternoon naps felt just so good...
I did a cautious run in the middle of the next week, and found that the weariness had faded. Just to be safe, I gave it the rest of the week.
Sure enough, by the following Monday, I was champing at the bit.
However, now, ADHM 2015 was around the corner. Training plan mileage in this, or the next week, would probably have seen me arrive fatigued at the start line. A lot of meditation on the issue, and I decided to taper.
It turned out to be a good decision.
Those 39 seconds will haunt me until next year, I'm sure :D, but I have kept alive this personal tradition of missing ADHM goals by fractions of a minute, and I am quite proud of that. A good race, all in all, despite the rag-cloth of a t-shirt, and the unimaginative medals that were basically leftovers from the last running with the year scraped off.
That's done.
I now have four weeks in Gurgaon. After months in the mountains, I am sanguine that the planned mileages here will not be as daunting as they would have been with the madness of the inclines. While the temperatures continue to drop here too, It's nice to be on leave, which enables me to run late mornings or afternoons. And while I have unreservedly loved the solitude of my runs so far, It'll be great to run with other human beings for a change.
The few runs I have done so far this week have convinced me that despite my break, as regards Dubai 2016... I'm getting there.
Here's what the last month looked like...
A fourth of the way into the second 'mesocycle' of my training plan... something that was supposed to add a shit-ton of tempo-pace running to my training... I ran into foul weather.
Literally.
Temperature in the hills suddenly dipped, for one, and while I could have dealt with that alone, it started raining every other day. I missed a run on account of a particularly nasty thundershower, so I googled 'Weather Gods' that afternoon, got a quick-and-dirty list from this page, and proceeded to spend a goodly amount of time hurling clever insults at them. It was all a lot of fun.
The next day, I saw a window of opportunity (when it was merely drizzling) and set out for a 23k. That turned out to be an ambush of epic proportions by the previously abused weather gods. I was at the 11.5k turning point, right in the middle of the killing ground, when those guys opened up on me with every bucket they had.
Picture a wet cat. Now picture that wet cat shivering in a freezer. Yes...I was that wet cat.
I staggered back to my room, dried myself up and then proceeded to pray spiritedly to this rather more comprehensive list of deities . Thankfully, at least on Wikipedia, there are more Health Gods than Weather Gods and I did not, in fact, fall overtly sick from that horrific run.
The next day, I knew that something was off. The rains had ceased. But, for the first time in forever, I didn't feel like going for a run.
I didn't have to think long to know what this was. Impending burnout. To be frank, I had been expecting it. I had been sticking to the mileages, but was doing some killing elevations. Effort-wise, every run felt as if it was 25 to 30 % longer than what it actually was...
It was time to make good on the promise I had made myself when I started out on this schedule.
Swallow your pride. Forget your machismo.
Rest.
I would love to tell you that it was difficult to take days off, because that would be in tune with this image of a badass runner that I keep trying to cultivate about myself, but honestly... I was relieved. It was true that I was missing some mileage in a high-stakes training cycle. But those late mornings and those afternoon naps felt just so good...
I did a cautious run in the middle of the next week, and found that the weariness had faded. Just to be safe, I gave it the rest of the week.
Sure enough, by the following Monday, I was champing at the bit.
However, now, ADHM 2015 was around the corner. Training plan mileage in this, or the next week, would probably have seen me arrive fatigued at the start line. A lot of meditation on the issue, and I decided to taper.
It turned out to be a good decision.
Those 39 seconds will haunt me until next year, I'm sure :D, but I have kept alive this personal tradition of missing ADHM goals by fractions of a minute, and I am quite proud of that. A good race, all in all, despite the rag-cloth of a t-shirt, and the unimaginative medals that were basically leftovers from the last running with the year scraped off.
That's done.
I now have four weeks in Gurgaon. After months in the mountains, I am sanguine that the planned mileages here will not be as daunting as they would have been with the madness of the inclines. While the temperatures continue to drop here too, It's nice to be on leave, which enables me to run late mornings or afternoons. And while I have unreservedly loved the solitude of my runs so far, It'll be great to run with other human beings for a change.
The few runs I have done so far this week have convinced me that despite my break, as regards Dubai 2016... I'm getting there.
Here's what the last month looked like...
Congrats on a great time and 39 seconds :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Anupriya. And congratulations to you too! You did a very strong race yourself.
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