Recovery Runs are for Wimps
Why can't I get it through my blonde-encased head that recovery runs are necessary?
I embarked this morning on what I thought would be a breeze of a three-miler. Admittedly, I started out too quickly-- no doubt fueled by my inflated ego-- but no more than a mile into it, I wanted to quit and crawl back home, crying for my mommy.
There's something about my personality-- the disillusion that unless I'm going all out, everytime, I'm a wimp-- that is really affecting my running for the negative. I know full well the run after my long run should be for recovery and taken at a slow and easy pace, but I just can't ever seem to stick to that plan once my feet hit the road. I'm very much a mono-paced runner, as incapable of slowing down my pace for any sustained length of time as I am of picking it up.
Something's gotta give. My mommy will not coddle me after lousy three-milers much longer.
2 comments:
I also find that I'm too competitive for my own good, as during a recovery run I would compete agains MYSELF due to my toys like the Garmin, Polar Heart Rate Monitor, and even watch. Therefore, I experimented with wearing no "toys" and run on routes that I already know the mileage, but strive to run within conversational pace. I too realize that if I don't recover, my next hard workout will suffer as I'll lack energy.
Hi Bruce,
That's an irony to me about running compared to some other sports: your greatest competition is always within yourself, whether in a positive or negative way.
As with everything else in life, I'm having to learn how to have a more healthy balance of self-motivation when it comes to my running.
Sometimes easier said than done!
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