Typically I find it difficult to take a break from running. Suffice it to say that I did not have that problem after running the North Face 50, in part due to being extremely busy with the end of the semester, ski coaching, etc., but also because I really needed a rest.
After 10 days completely off from running, I got out 3-4 times per week for the next couple of weeks. This was all supplemented with a decent amount of cross country skiing, which seems to have allowed me to maintain overall fitness fairly well. The last couple of weeks, I've been back to running every day, and have even been on the track a couple of times to try to bring some pep back to these aging legs.
What's next? I'm not sure. The Olympic Trials Marathon is about a year away, so that is really the big goal for the next year. I'd like to run some fast shorter races in order to give myself a chance at running a PR there, so I may be on the roads a fair amount this year. However, I also think the 50k trail runs are great training, very enjoyable, and don't seem to take much out of me, so I hope to hit at least a couple of those along the way.
Looking back over the last year, it has been filled with fairly rapid change. I joined up with the TC Running Co. racing team, and have loved being a part of a team again. I started work on a Ph.D. in Kinesiology, and managed to survive the first semester only a little worse for the wear. Even the dreaded Biostats was, in the end, a positive experience. Round two starts next Wednesday.
I also went from coaching a handful of individual runners to now working with 20-30 athletes at any given time. This has been extremely rewarding, and I feel lucky to have the opportunity to work with all of the people who have entrusted me with their training.
With all of this, and continuing to coach at the high school level (which I continue to love), I have semi-consciously allowed my own training to take a back seat at times. Last fall, I definitely plowed through, but often had to sacrifice sleep in order to do so. I don't make New Year's resolutions, but I will say that during the break I came to the conclusion (which was obvious to everyone except me three months ago) that my current pace of life is neither healthy nor sustainable. You can only drink so much coffee...
So, like many of you out there balancing family, work, social lives, other interests and life's various demands on your time, I am searching for balance. This next month could be tough, with the semester starting and ski season still going, but then I'll have a break from coaching, and my role with the track team is far less demanding, so hopefully I can maintain a somewhat more reasonable lifestyle through the first half of the year. Summer plans include naps, muskie fishing, and obsessive Tour de France viewing. Next fall semester, I plan to take a light load in order to give myself a good chance to train for the Trials.
A racing schedule is still TBD. In the meantime, I'm just trying to get out into the snow and cold every day. For all you Minnesota runners out there, enjoy the next in a long series of snowfalls and cold snaps!
Feel the warm
embrace of ice
burn your face
I love coaching; you never really know something until you try to teach it to someone else. For the record, somewhere I once said that if I ever let someone coach me, that you'd be the guy - you just seem to have a clarity of understanding and ability to see what's needed (also for the record: I am uncoachably stubborn).
ReplyDeleteBest of luck getting everything balanced and reasonable for a while. When you start seriously training for the Oly trials, things will almost necessarily begin getting unbalanced again.
Thanks Steve, that's nice to hear. I'm uncoachable myself, pretty much always have been. I felt I had to do more of this, less of that, or do something different than what I was told to do. Ironically, that's what got me into coaching, always telling people what I did and how I'd do things if I were them.
ReplyDeleteI see you won the 1/2 marathon yesterday. Congrats! I see a lot of people setting PR's, which given the weather, has me wondering if the course was accurate.
ReplyDeleteOkay the results are updated and you're listed as being behind Gilman and the course as 11.6 miles. Guess I should've waited a day.
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