Can you prioritise your training with a hectic training schedule?
For more than 70 consecutive days it has been over 90 degrees in the low country of South Carolina. For anyone out there who thinks that 90 degrees feels like 90 degrees you are wrong. Just walking outside resembles a health club sauna, minus the naked members of course.
Sticking to my training schedule
I am so ready for winter, even if its only 1 month long like the last. All of this focus on sticking to my training schedule, dodging the heat as much as possible and strength training more has caused me to miss one of the most important parts of training. The ability to stay healthy by doing necessary maintenance exercises. I talk a big game to my clients about a specific warmup before runs and a core and hip strengthening routine for after. All the while I know how important it is but it is so easy to feel bomb proof while the going is good.
It’s so easy when time is tight due to responsibilities like work and family to use the whole one hour time chunk on my run. In my head I’m thinking, “1 hour, ok… 7 min miles… should be able to get 8 in.” I should be content with running 7 miles instead and using the remaining 10 minutes or so to do auxiliary exercises, core and stretch. This change in thought would only take away about 5-6 miles from my weekly total. In the past, with a less hectic training schedule, I would just lallygag around after my run and get the necessary stuff in. With time being scarce and more precious as I moved deeper into the life of an “adult,” the extra stuff needs a front row seat.
As I am typing away there is an icepack strapped to the back of my left leg and under it is kinesis-tape stabilizing my achilles tendon. In a few minutes I will graduate to a boot that I wear in my downtime and through the night. I cannot isolate it for every hour of the day the way I should because of work and life, but completely resting would speed up the process.
Alright, I am making it sound worse than it is on purpose. All of the above are true but after about 2 weeks of no running and supplementing with cycling I have been able to complete a few short runs with little to no pain. I am not in the clear yet and I have had a history of achilles issues dating back to college. I have been able to string together almost 3 consecutive years injury free which is the longest stretch in my running career. I have been doing all of the little things that contribute, especially for all of you that are over 30, to consistent healthy running. Despite knowing how important these little things are it was the first to go by the wayside when my available time per day started to shrink. This is something you cannot afford to do!
We are all human and these things happen!
They are something we all must go through time and time again in order to hunker down and make the necessary changes. My primary concern at the moment is to be healthy for the two Tunnel to Towers races that I compete in with other members from the Bluffton Fire District. Our team has won the last 3 Savannah races and the first and only Columbia race (in full gear). I need to be injury free even if it means in less shape than I was two weeks ago. After that it is up in the air whether or not I will go back to building a big aerobic base for a winter race or try to salvage the fall season.
The message here is to stay focused on your goals.
Whether the goal is to walk, run or scale the Empire State Building or just to stick to your training schedule… keep doing the little things! Most fairly motivated people will do the obvious things. Runners will run, painters will paint but neither will be successful without the behind the scenes extras that keep you moving forward.
