Do I Have to?

To answer the question: YES. Not because I'll get in trouble if I don't, but because if I want what I say I want, then it needs to be done.

To explain the question: Every athlete goes through a period in their training where the hardest part of their program is getting their ass out of the door and doing their workout. It's those few days, or more, where your body feels like crap, you don't want to do your workout and you play a mental game of tug-of-war with yourself of why not to workout versus going out and getting it done. This was how my week went this week. I had one hell of a time trying to stay motivated. I felt very depleted and tired this week and twice couldn't get out of bed in the morning to do my workout and had to do them in the afternoon.  The last 4 weeks I have worked 50+ hours a week and last week was the biggest week (in mileage and intensity) that I have had in a long time. Naturally, a crappy week should be expected. However, it was more than just heavy feeling legs. I really just did not want to do my runs. Like I said, every athlete goes through this at some point. The difference between those that want it and those that don't, is that you figure out ways to get your ass out of your pitty-party and get the job done. This could be finding people to run with or find ways to trick yourself into feeling better. For me, I know that long out-and-backs can be more mentally draining when I am already having motivation troubles. So I broke all of my runs up into smaller segments to make it seem like the run was going by faster. For example, doing a loop + an out-and-back or going out and back one direction then out and back another direction. By doing this, I can focus on one segment at a time instead of looking at one big segment and feeling like the run is dragging on. This helped me to feel better about my runs when they were done, even if my legs didn't feel particularly great. It turned out that two of my runs this week turned out being better than how I felt going into them.

This week being a down week (lower mileage), I also changed my overall focus for the week. Instead of making my main focus on my pace, I focused more on my cadence. Don't get me wrong I still gave 100% to hit my pace, but when you don't feel great and you are focusing on how fast you should be going, it doesn't help you feel any better about your runs to stress about your pace. So I re-directed my focus to something that was having a more positive affect on me mentally and worked on improving my running form. It helped me feel more fluid and relaxed during my runs. It is a win-win situation if you think about it: I am improving my form while being distracted from feeling crappy.

All in all, I can say it wasn't one of my best weeks when it comes to how I felt. But, it is another week in the books and another week that I am getting closer to my goal. It couldn't have come at a better time (well, it actually would have been better to not have come at all!) with my week ending at the start of the Olympics. Watching the athlete bios on TV and seeing the amount of work they put in to get there, is a great reminder that "Yes, you have to do it." I may never be as good as them and may never make it to the Olympics, but I'll be damned if I don't work just as hard as they do to reach my goals.

Weekly Summary:
Monday: OFF

Tuesday: 4 x 400m hills ( 2:04), 4 x 200m hills FAST ( :46), 4 x 400m hills (2:00-2:04)
               10 miles total

Wednesday: 6 miles easy

Thursday: OFF

Friday: 5 mile tempo 6:47, 6:47,6:57, 6:43, 6:34, 10 miles total
            PM: 4 miles easy
            **This was a particularly hard day for me.(Tempo runs are what I struggle with the most at this altitude.) I had to change up my route 3 times during the run to make myself get all 5 miles in. I planned on doing 1 mile loops and after 2 miles I knew I was going to struggle mentally. After 3 miles I was ready to call it quits so I changed my route and did the two loops, out 1 mile, and back 2 miles,**

Saturday: OFF
Sunday: 12 mile with last 3 fast: 6:39, 6:43 (short steep hill), 6:31

Weekly total: 42 miles (down 25% from last week at 56)