Relax

After 4 good races in 5 weeks it was time to take a break from focusing heavily on race preparation. My mind needed to move away from constantly making sure every session had a target, analysing paces versus effort and pushing to hit difficult target times. Plus various parts of my body could do with a break from the higher volume of faster running.

So I took that mental break and went out for a few easy runs with the idea just to enjoy them. If I didn't want to run, then I didn't, if I wanted to go longer then I did. I also snuck in a swim and returned to some basic weights. As the week progressed all the niggles I had been developing from racing dissipated and my body was feeling recovered. Interestingly over the week I still covered 84km, and it felt a lot easier than my recent 70km weeks.


On these runs I made a point of venturing off my usual routes. I found a couple of extra links between some of my favourite trails. One run I enjoyed especially was a long effort based on time in Plenty Gorge. Here I mixed it with the kangaroos, black wallabies and even an echnida. Explored the river crossings and happily took my time. Even stopping to enjoy the views a number of times. It was good not to have any thought about the clock stuck in my head.

A few days further and kilometres are being covered quite easily. Soon enough I'll start thinking about the next project. In the meantime, I'll just enjoy the running.

Comments

  1. IronMin15 May 2013 at 11:59

    It does the mind so good to just let it rest and wander and see where the run takes you. A run with kangaroos? That is even better! I can't even imagine how cool that must've been!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown16 May 2013 at 16:41

    The kangaroos are one of the advantages of where I live. On just about all my long runs I tend to be around the 'roos. A mixture of suburbia and bush, with plenty of wildlife about at times. Its a good break from technology and stressors of life.

    ReplyDelete

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