After massively PR-ing at the D.C. Half, I immediately turned my thoughts to The! Next! Race!
A 1:49 half had gone from a someday goal to a OMG-I-can-do-this-really-soon goal, and I was chomping at the bit to find another race ASAP and slaughter that goal.
Maybe I just wanted a reason to celebrate. Whatever.
I started looking up local halfs and emailing with my coach, Jess. She suggested the More/Fitness Half, as it was close enough that I could continue to train and get some more good speedwork in. I started warming up to the idea of running it, but not so much the training. Like Emily wrote, this freaking cold March needs to end. I, too, am done with bundling up to go run outside. It’s like I had some secret internal allowance of cold weather runs, and once I hit that, I was just done with running in the cold.
So when I got Jess’s email the other day, I knew she was right.
So, I was reading your post about your post-race thoughts and I remember what happened after your full last year and wanting to run another marathon, but then getting burned out.
My advice (which you can take or leave) would be to relish in your 5 minute PR for now and give yourself a little break before you have to start training for your tri so you don’t feel burnt out in a few months. In my opinion that would be more beneficial in the long run towards meeting your other running/fitness goals later in the year than breaking rather 1:50 now.
Crap. She’s right. I have a tri to start training for soon, and I’ll probably be running a fall marathon (still not sure which one), so I do need a little break…from trying to PR at halfs. I still have Zooma and Brooklyn Halfs coming up, which I may just run for funsies, and I still may do the More/Fitness Half, again, for funsies. I also have my eyes on some of the shorter NYRR races coming up.
What about you? Can you go right from training for one event to another or do you need some time off so you don’t get burnt out?
I’ll take a couple of days off after a race but then I keep going. Running right now is just for the sake of running as much as it is for training. If I get burnt out I’ll take a few extra days off and then I’m back at it.
Let me know which ones you end up choosing because I too have my eye on a couple of the shorter NYRR races and the possibility of running the MORE. If you come across a bib…
Knowing yourself is so smart. Congrats on the PR!
I definitely need to tak some time off from training after a big race. I try to keep up with running, and sometimes I’ll mix in some for fun races, but mentally I can’t commit to a big scary goal race right away.
Sounds like you have a lot of great things coming up soon! It’s always nice to have the option of running them hard as a race or just for fun.
Either way, enjoy that PR!
Today’s run showed me I can’t jump right back into training, but for physical rather than mental reasons. My knee hurts for some unknown reason… which is really frustrating because my mind is willing to train but my body isn’t!
Oh no 🙁 Tell your knee to stop being a jerk!
I usually need a break after training for a big race. When I don’t take one and run several races in a row, I generally burn out.
Great advice! I also feel like you could wind up PRing at Brooklyn or ZOOMA if the conditions are right anyway.
@Dori: I think you’re right 🙂 I think I’m just going to take a more casual approach for a bit and see what happens.
I think that it is the right move. Enjoy your PR. You earned the right. Revel in it for a while, before you try to out do it. Your time was AMAZING in my opinion so kudos to you.
After a big race I switch what I’m doing. So if I’ve just run a half, I’ll switch to cycling for a couple of weeks so it feels different. Otherwise I know I’ll end up going “Meh. So what” on my training runs and that’s leads to me stopping for months!
@Mark Bradshaw: That makes sense – good idea!
Way to go on the PR! I normally just give myself 2 weeks off (on any distance greater than a Half Marathon up to Full Iron) then start the fun again!
What tri are you doing? If it’s Quassy, I’ll see you there.
@baker: Thanks! Two weeks is wise. The tri is just a sprint in my hometown: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/directory/link-detail.asp?linkid=8155
Right now my schedule is go-go-go…but it’s the first time I will be training for something continuously for this long. Just finished the R&R half and now I’m about 11 weeks out for my next race, and then it’s another 11 weeks to another race, and then only about 9 or so for my final fall race!
I am sure I will get burned out at some point, so I’m leaving my training a little bit more flexible down the line.
I typically have the identical urge to suddenly sign up for as many running events as possible as soon as I have crossed the finish line. For example, after I finished the Marine Corps Marathon I was online later that day (with my legs elevated and compression calf sleeves on) trying to find other marathons to sign up for. However, it took several people (most seasoned runners) to tell me to resist the urge and if I found 3 weeks later I still felt the exact same way, to then sign up for it. Thankfully by then my discretion sunk in and I just signed for two half marathon events this spring (The National and Nike Women’s half), not the other three I had also contemplated. Now, that I have a free schedule after April and wasn’t bogged down at all with training, I am now giving the MCM another go at a PR. Why not run the MCM again?
hmm.. I guess I need some time to rest. Our body needs training but any thing that is too much could lead damage to us. As they said, once is enough; two is too much; three is a poison that kills a person.
Learning many great after event tips.
I’m running my first half marathon in June and looking forward to it, although with little trepidation.
Training is going well and I’m pacing myself. Mostly running but I do cycling when the joints are sore.
I have signed up for my first marathon ever! I am very excited and a little nervous at the same time 🙂 You blog has really helped to inspire me and give me the confidence to move forward…