I completely cracked up when I read JT's Blog today...
"Runners often cry over bring out of shape, definitely myself included.
"Christ, I went 19:45 for that 5K, I'm so out of shape." Or, "I really
struggled on that 20 miler, I need to get my ass back in shape." But
you do the Incline with office folks who really are out of shape, like
no-physical-activity-whatsoever-for-decades out of shape, and it puts
things in perspective."
I got a good laugh out of it because I have been having the same kinds of discussions via internal dialogue all week with myself.
November was a good running month. I was determined to be set up to start training in December if things went well for me on the morning of the 6th. They didn't, so that caused a loss of momentum for sure. In addition to that I got that damned cold on the 8th which knocked me down for a good two weeks. Two weeks without any significant activity at all.
After I started to feel better I got some weird itch to do a lot of vertical. It was a distraction of sorts I guess. Something different but in the end I think it did more harm than good fitness-wise in regards to running at least.
Then I got sick AGAIN on the 1st of January. It was the flu which made the cold in December seem likes child's play. So there goes another two weeks. Ugh.
This week I have been finally able to get back at it. All running, no silly vertical and no time on the bike. I did not make it into the Leadville Trail 100 MTB lottery so I am dropping the bike for a while. At least until this spring when the roads and trails clear and I can ride it for something else to do to add volume.
None of the runs this week have been easy. Legs feel heavy and there is a sort of discomfort deep within the muscle tissue in my quads that I am not familiar with. This has to be the most detrained that I have been in years. So yeah, it does feel like starting over from square one.
Of course as JT pointed out it is all relative. 35 miles for the week, six hours and twelve minutes of training time with 4321 feet of gain. All of this was done with a strict MAF focus. For me this feels out of shape.
This week will be better. We have good weather in the forecast AND I am going to Moab on Friday to run there and hang out for the weekend. So I am excited about all of that.
Toying with the idea of the Aspen Backcountry Marathon here in June. It isn't a slouch of a race at all. Actually knowing the parts of the course that I do know makes it is quite intimidating. But the upside to that race is that it is here and I don't have to travel. It could be fun.
Eight weeks and six days to Mexico. God I can't wait to be warm. I told Melissa she can kick me hard the first time I complain about the heat! :)
I love to see folks whose body type screams "sofa!" out there doing it. I didn't have the physical issues, but starting running at age 35 -- I mean literally learning how to run -- had its challenges. You see over and over how transformative it can be.
ReplyDeleteWell I can tell you the way I have been shuffling around this past week, if anyone saw me I am sure they thought "sofa" too! I think it is great that anyone is out doing anything regardless of where they are starting etc. The ones who are really out of their comfort zones, both physically and mentally, and I always have great respect for that.
DeleteI'm all about the newbies and out of shape folks getting out there, love seeing that stuff. For some reason the thought of my two different worlds popped into my head while on the mini-Incline.
ReplyDeleteI always marvel at the difference reference points of fitness. Your example is a good one. I can never imagine starting over at total ground zero but like I said above I respect anyone who is. You were so right about running around here in the winter JT. It is hard, at least it has been the past few weeks. Being sick kept me down but the super cold temps that we had, lack of sunlight, snow, ice, etc. makes it a challenge to get any quality short or long runs in. But now I can tell the sun's angle has changed a bit and it has warmed up a touch so I think it will be easier through the rest of the winter. But from mid December to mid January seems to be a really bad time. Even if I was not sick it would have been a tough stretch of running.
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