Off My Game

I'm really feeling the effects of all that time off... physically and mentally.

I've gone for stretches of time without running before and while I might be a little rusty when I start back up, I usually get back into a groove fairly quickly. But I don't usually feel this far from my baseline.

I was surprised to have sore quads Wednesday after running less than four miles at a pretty relaxed pace on Tuesday. That kind of run hasn't made my legs sore in years. On one hand, it felt good to have some sore muscles again... a nice sign of real work being done. On the other hand, I wish it had been a harder workout that caused the soreness.

And today's run was a sign of how rusty I am mentally. I started out at a slow, easy pace... and then got slower and slower. It wasn't a fatigue issue or that I couldn't go faster. It was just a lack of motivation to make myself go any faster. I was perfectly content to basically jog the last mile. My mental metronome is dramatically slower than it used to be.

(I don't think my brain woke up for this morning's run.)

Pic Source

Granted, my only two runs since the break have been with temperatures in the 20's so I've been bundled up which tends to slow me down. And today was an early-morning run which never feels as good. But I would still expect to be running these distances at least a minute faster per mile.

So my only goal for the next couple of weeks (possibly for all of January), is to run at least 3 days a week. I can run them as easy and relaxed as I want, but I need to get my base back. Then I can regain some speed and work on my mental game.

Friday
Goal For The Day: Easy Run.
Distance: 3.89 Miles.
Time: 33:02. 8:29 Avg. (8:10, 8:16, 8:34, 7:59*).
Route: Old Town Eureka Loop w/ Cul-de-Sac Ext.
Conditions: 25 degrees. 6:10AM
Run Details On Garmin
Run Details On Nike+

Notes: Tuesday's run was about 3 minutes slower than I usually run this course. Today was 2 minutes slower than Tuesday. I know better than to jump back into things too quickly, but I probably don't need to go quite so easy. Nike+ tidbits: 4.45M less and 0:50/M slower than the average of my past 7 runs.

Daily Miles: 3.89 Miles.
2013 Totals:
  Run - 7.78 Miles.
  Bike - 0.00 Miles.
  Swim - 0.00 Miles.