Before you think "OH MY!!! A runner who doesn't want to run!" Sit down!!! For most of you, this is something you have experienced AT LEAST ONCE! You've had your ruts where you are 6 weeks into training and you just don't want to hit the pavement, treadmill, trail...whatever your terrain of choice is. You'd much rather just sit back in your recliner and binge watch Netflix. I've been there and am there in that rut now.
For the last 15 months, I have been training non-stop. It started with training for the Disney Half Marathon which took place in January 2015.
It only went up from there. I did a half & full in March, a half in April, and a 5k and full in May. Once I finished May's marathon, I immediately jumped in to JFK training. While training, I ran 2 5ks in August and a half in September. Once the JFK came and went in November, I was already training for my March full.
Needless to say, I AM POOPED/WIPED/IN NEED OF A BREAK! I am done with training and would rather run on my own watch. Not because it will make or break my marathon. *sigh*
I simply have no desire to train right now. Not because I don't like it. Races are fun despite the hard work you have to put into it. But I am at a point where training has been a constant in my life and I desperately need change. I have said this before but I must say it again, I want to be able to run with no end goal. I just want to go out, run as far as my body wants to and then come home and call it a day. I don't want the guilt of missing miles just because I was burnt out. It has made me tired, cranky, and achy.
Thankfully, I am done after March. I may have a relay race at the end of April, but that will not be as demanding as this training streak has been. I could probably cut my running to 3 days a week, cross train, and still be race ready in April. After April, I have absolutely no training plans until mid July. And I am going to absorb that time to just run as I see fit.
Anyway, the point I am trying to get at here is: Don't bite off more than you can chew! Learn from me! Don't schedule races half a year or more in advance because you may find that at one point, you are spent. You don't need to prove yourself as a runner by doing double digit races every year. I've already done nearly 40 in the last 4 years and that's more than some would ever do in their entire life!
Have you ever burnt yourself out from training for too many races?
What's the longest amount of time you dedicated to a training streak?
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