Chicago Marathon Training - the "Un-Week" of Training
The good news is that I couldn't have picked a better week to have a built-in extra week of training. The bad news is that this week was spent feeling ill with almost no energy for running. I guess it was a good week to learn about how rest and recovery is important. Too often we want to push ourselves to stick to a plan no matter what and from my experience, that always backfires. While I'm not happy I had to spend this week in misery, I'm glad I've learned a thing or two over the years and just accepted that rest is what I needed more than anything.
Highlight of the week: Sunday was our Oiselle IL meet-up, and it was great to hit one of my favorite trails with some new friends. We enjoyed a picnic brunch afterwards and it was great to connect in person with so many teammates.
Low point of the week: Sadly, after I left the meet-up I became ill very quickly. Several days later I learned that I had food poisoning from a party I attended on Saturday where many others reported being sick. This sickness was so severe that I couldn't eat or drink anything for 2 days, and I am still feeling tired and weak from dehydration.
Runners are crazy in that we always try to rationalize a run. My heart wanted to run much more than my body actually could, and I just accepted my situation for what it was. I'm trying to not think about how many weeks are left until the marathon (not enough!!), but realistically I know it's worse to try and train when you are ill and then you pay for it later through injury or burnout.
This entire training period I have done things differently than I have in the past. I've given myself some room to have fun this summer so that I didnt burn out mentally. I've scheduled breaks from running. I've moved runs around. I chose a plan that only scheduled 4 days of running. Ive allowed myself to rest when Im sick or hurt instead of pushing through. Some may think that I am setting myself up for failure on marathon day, and that may be true. Alternatively, I chose to believe that I will be successful. In other distances, I have felt that my race performance reflected my training, but not so with the marathon. Specifically last year, I felt that I went into the marathon almost too confident, and once I struggled it all fell apart. "They" say that if you want different results, do something different. That's what Im trying this year, and with my strong base of running and improved mental strength, I believe I will have a good race because I am doing the opposite of what I've done in the past and for now, Im trusting in that.
Hopefully with some extra rest I'll be back and better than ever next week, and ready to take on some challenging week's ahead.
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