What 2017 Taught Me
If you had told me in January what my running would be like in 2017, I wouldn’t have believed you. What started out as a disaster, is ending on a high note (I think). I learned a lot about myself this year, especially about how to deal with disappointment and setback. Here is what I am taking away from 2017.
Do NOT run on injuries that can change your gate – I sprained my ankle something horrible running a tempo in the dark in January. Bloody knees, swelling, cut arms and hand, the whole 9 yards. After giving myself maybe 6 days off and getting an Xray at a walk-in clinic that it wasn’t broken, I was back to running. You are not being tough running through an injury, you are just leading to other things…..and that brought me down the path of the stress fracture. Enough about that. Go to a real sports med doc for a bad injury and rest. You will thank yourself later. Two weeks off sure is a heck of a lot better than three months.
Do whats best for YOUR body – Everyone loves following other runners. It provides inspiration and motivation to see what others are doing. But you have to remember, everyone is different. I learned that running 7 days a week does not work for me. Trying this failed me my last two marathon training cycles. Its tough to see others running super high mileage weeks including doubles when you are maxing out at about 55 miles for marathon training. But you know what? That works best for me – so I need to follow it. This past week weather caused a movement of my long run and changed around my rest days. I learned I should always take off after my long run. Everyone always compares themselves to others, that’s a given. I am really making a conscientious decision to try to do it much less. No runner is the same. What works well for some, doesn’t work well for others.
Small wins are just as important as the big ones – Small improvements matter! A PR is a PR. At first I was a little disappointed a ran 132 for my half. I thought I was capable of more, I wanted more. Why was I thinking these bad thoughts? I had just run the fastest I have ever run for that distance! Looking back on it now, I realize we need to celebrate the small wins just as much as the big ones. You ran for the first time since an injury? Amazing! Who cares that it was slower than the pace of your marathon. You took a step forward. That’s all that matters. A lot of small wins eventually lead to big ones.
Taking care of your body is key – In high school my dad use to say that the body is like a finely tuned machine that you prep for competition. He’s right, it is! What you do it directly reflects its output. I notice a big difference when I don’t drink all the water I should, I get less sleep, I am constantly on the go. I hate to admit this, but I am not as young as I use to be. I am not old by any means, that’s a mentality, but what I use to be able to do doesn’t work anymore for me to perform my best. I know I need 8 hours of sleep of night. So I need to get that. It might mean I have some early nights, but its worth it. I make sure I have plenty of time to do fun things. (I do them the night before my rest day!)
Don’t EVER take running for granted – I learned this when I was confined to crutches for two months. I said to myself, I don’t care how much I don’t want to go for a run, I will go do it. One day I won’t be able to and today (or in that case months in the future) is not that day. For the most part I have stuck to that mentality except when I have had to take a few extra rest days here and there for maintenance. It truly is such a gift to be able to get out and run pain free – enjoy it!
Listen to your body – I admit, I need to be better at doing this. At times I will listen to my body a day or two after I should have. I have learned to accept there is no way I am going to make it through a training cycle without taking an extra rest day or changing up something on the schedule. This goes back to my first point, no running on injuries. This isn’t running on injuries per say, but its just knowing when you need an extra day. Its ok to take it. The body lets us know when it needs more rest. You will be better for it! I hurt my calf running in the snow, I had to cut 14 miles to 10. I had pain when I walked and I thought it was the end of the world. This was a Saturday. I took off sunday, tried to run monday – my calf said no ma’am after 4 miles. I got a massage tuesday and took off until thursday. I was pain free and then nailed my 16 miler the following weekend. You know what wouldn’t have happened if I kept pushing through the pain? The 16 miles.
I am hoping to take what I learned in 2017 to have an amazing 2018 fulled with PRs and healthy running. Stay tuned for my 2018 goals!
-Katie