When Your Running Course Introduces a Curve, Re-adjust Your Path
In life, sh*t happens; so take a step back and examine your plan.
I had gradually built my mileage, having completed three runs of 30K. My next long run, in preparation for the marathon, was to be a 35K on the Sunday before going on March break. Calamity! I fell sick with the flu on Thursday and I missed two days of training. On Sunday, I could only muster 5K. We left for our trip and although I managed a few training runs, I relapsed and fell sick for another couple of days. When we returned from vacation, I did not have the energy to complete another long run before the race even though my training plan indicated I should finish three more long runs.
Sometimes the road of life introduces curves that prevent you from executing the plan you set out for yourself. This could be a short-term illness. It could be an accident like the time I broke a bone on the outside of my foot. At other times, it could be work or family emergencies that impact your training. It could even be a running injury like the plantar fasciitis that bothered me for a couple of years.
As John Lennon supposedly said, life is what happens when you are busy making other plans. As we know, stuff happens, and it can affect our training. Depending on the extent of the…
