Week 10: A Time for Everything
“Running really is more than just my happy place. It keeps me driven, so when I’m denied it for extended periods of time, I can feel it takes its toll on my morale.”
My phone was pinging every five minutes, with updates streaming in on WhatsApp of the personal progress of each runner in a group that I run with regularly on a Friday morning.
They are a competitive bunch, so I knew the on-course time updates were going to be staggeringly low. Most of them were going for a three-hour or under marathon. It was a breathless Sunday morning, and the Cape Town Marathon was well under way.
Unfortunately, I was still in bed, taking things slowly after a week of being ill. Then the news came in that Tish had made her move, and was now positioned in the lead. I was beaming that our ‘Friday Breakfast Club’ representative was absolutely smashing it; and had I been running, I wouldn’t have had this info at hand. Receiving the picture of Tish claiming victory changed my attitude – even still being in bed with flu has its perks…
Running really is more than just my happy place. It keeps me driven, so when I’m denied it for extended periods of time, I can feel it takes its toll on my morale. At the same time, I need to remind myself that, as the saying goes, ‘There is a time for everything’ – and with all due respect, my time for running has been incredibly low over the last two months, given the demands of life!
In that time I have been denied two races (one finish, and one not being even able to start) that I had worked towards as diligently as I could; but it’s important to remember that training is an ongoing learning process. And that the body is not a machine – but if treated correctly, it can perform.
The knowledge that I have gained from using a heart-rate monitor has been invaluable, and will stand me in good stead for both training and future race plans. I know now that my previous training methods were incredibly flawed, and I understand my body a lot better now. I know I can’t just hammer out mileage day in and day out, and expect to get stronger – there needs to be an understanding of what kind of mileage needs to be done each day. Some days it needs to be hard; other days, it must feel like a walk in the park.
As I’ve done minimal mileage in the last month, I really need to respect where I am currently, and slowly start building up again. For the next week, all running must be kept to low mileage, and all of those runs need to feel like a walk in the park – I’ll make sure of that by keeping my heart rate low (nothing over 160bpm).
There’s nothing worse than pushing yourself into the hurt box too soon after recovering: if your immune system is low, you could face a relapse of whatever virus it was that you were carrying. So the more gradual my comeback to running, the stronger I will be in two months from now.
I do have two races lined up in the next month, in wild and remote places. Both will just be great adventures, which I’ll treat more as training runs than races. I definitely won’t be able to run either with an all-out effort – so I’d rather focus on just getting out there again, and getting back to the joy of running for its own sake.
Alana Doyle is a committed trail and road runner and has completed events like the famed 160km UTMB (Ultra Trail Mont Blanc) run in France. This year her target events include the Hout Bay Challenge Trail Run and the Sanlam Cape Town marathon.
Follow Alana’s running journey here:
Week 2: My First Win… But at What Cost?
Week 3: When The Heart Says Go, But The Body Says No
Week 6: When The Heart Falls In Line
Week 7: A Little More Self-Control, Please!
Week 9: Cape Town Marathon Derailed
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