‘I struggle to prioritise running when the rest of my life is in full stride, and what I have realised over the last few days is one simple thing: life happens.’

To be frank, running is not on my A-list at the moment. Motivating myself to get out there after last weekend’s disappointment at the Hout Bay Ultra hasn’t been the easiest. If the disappointment wasn’t enough on its own, my body seems to be revolting from the stress of getting married in less than 10 days. The combination is proving to be a massive distraction from my running tights and trainers, which are gathering dust in a corner of my shoe shelf.

What I have realised over the last few days is one simple thing: life happens. Full stop. When the demands of a crazy schedule or the magazine’s looming print deadline throw us a curveball, it’s often training that takes a back seat. And I’m the first to admit that I struggle to prioritise running when the rest of my life is in full stride.

However, in the back of my mind I know recovery is a crucial part of a long-term training plan; that heart rate needs to tick over from resting to active recovery, especially when one is gearing up for another marathon in six weeks. I’m doing my best to stick to the game plan set out for me by Coach Mo, ensuring that my feet keep moving forward. Key runs are written in bold on my list of ‘To Do’s’ each week, in an effort to keep them in mind as much as possible.

My saving grace, over the last 10 or so days, is that I’ve been able to take almost all my runs really easy (as in almost walking pace, which in turn means I have been sticking to my lowest heart-rate target zone of nothing over 145bpm). And with everything else that has been going on (i.e. planning my wedding!), this has been perfectly fine by me.

I’m beginning to understand that during an active recovery period, sometimes one just has to shuffle rather than stride to develop into a gazelle. Had it been a few months ago (before I started this journey of heart-rate training) I would have been anxious – thinking that because I’m taking a few runs too easily, I’m not making any progress.

If all goes according to plan, the last few days of downtime will stand me in good stead when I start picking up the pace (and heart-rate target zones) during my training runs in a week’s time. So I need not worry that I’ve hung up my running shoes for a day or two – training, after all, is a long game.

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 1: Running Hard Is Easy

Week 2: My First Win… But at What Cost?

Week 3: When The Heart Says Go, But The Body Says No

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