I spent a few reflective hours thinking about why it was, that on certain runs, I was left feeling completely wiped out.
Even worse, I would have to pause during the run just to rest my legs.
What used to be an “Easy 6 Miles” became hard. Really hard.
Fatigue hasn’t been in my vocabulary for awhile.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that it all has to do with recipes.
If you take 10 ingredients, you can mix them up in a way that creates a meal fit for a king!
Yet the same 10 ingredients unbalanced can make you ill.
Life is much like that.
Over the last few years, running has been a part of my weight loss efforts. Now that I’ve hit a maintain-mode with my weight loss, my meals have changed. And my running has become more of a passion and challenge than just a way to drop pounds.
So with the two goals now disconnected, I’m less worried about eating right. This has resulted in poor fuel in my tank.
Or “bad gas”, if you will.
It’s not just the “food” fuel but also the “mental” fuel.
Life over the last couple of months have been exhausting. Work has been crazy busy with daily challenges that leave you mentally fried at the end of the day. Running and eating right after days like that are a challenge.
Eating junk is like a reward for just making it through the crappy day, right?
Work load, scheduling and marathon training has made it hard on keeping important relationships in order as well. That puts an emotional stress on the ingredient list for failure.
When you combine all of the above ingredients, you get a worn out human being.
Here’s what I’ve done to correct my issues and move forward with the things that I love:
- I started working on the staffing concerns at work. The business requires people. We have a great team already, just overloaded. I know how I feel after this summer. I’m thankful for those who stuck in there with me and made it as good as it was.
- I started looking at what I eat and drink with purpose. Little things like switching from a margarita to a glass of wine seems to make an impact on daily running performance. Avoiding the “Sweet Tooth” the night before a long run is also a wise choice. I’m learning what fuels me the best and trying to change back to the right eating patterns.
- I started working harder on maintaining relationships with others. Family in particular. Separation from others is tough, but can be managed if you stay actively engaged, whether it be by phone, text or Skype. It’s important to me to have everyone in my life… in my life.
As the balance gets restored, my mind and body can focus on what I want to achieve.
A marathon.
And a Boston Marathon Qualifying time.
Can I do it?
Damn straight…
See you on the streets
Uppie
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